Federal government provides $2.9B loan guarantee support for Muskrat Falls
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The federal government is providing another $2.9 billion in loan guarantees for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project — a move Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier says will slightly ease power bills that are expected to soar.
“It is a good day,” Dwight Ball said Thursday just after Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr announced the loan extension in the House of Commons.
“Any time you get an opportunity to actually save a project over $1 billion, and can put that back to help offset rates, that’s always good for the province,” Ball said in an interview.
Thursday’s announcement extends the Muskrat Falls loan guarantee first affirmed by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2012. Among other conditions, it requires that partners in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador remain committed to the project.