PC MHA'S PLEASE READ - and Steve Kent particularly!

I just received this in my email today. Oh the irony. So Mr. Steve Kent - try to understand the issues before opening your mouth - to guide our population - into your abyss of ignorance.

The following is an excerpt from a Hydro-Quebec Release on February 01-11

Thanks to hydropower, over 98% of the electricity generated by Hydro-Québec is clean, renewable and reliable. Very few countries have the same kind of electricity generation profile. In Western Europe, for instance, close to 50% of electricity is generated using fossil fuels, including coal, and over 25% using nuclear power.
Hydropower also means that Quebeckers pay the lowest electricity rates in North America. For example, the average price billed to residential customers throughout Québec is 6.88¢/kWh (rates in effect April 1, 2010).
Of course, there are other sources of renewable energy. In fact, Hydro-Québec is helping develop a number of emerging renewable energy sources. But they will never replace hydropower, for a variety of reasons related to economics, the climate and the environment.
Here’s why:

• Wind energy

Wind is unpredictable and intermittent, so it cannot produce a steady supply of electricity. That’s why wind energy supplements hydropower in Québec, just as it supplements nuclear power and fossil fuels elsewhere in the world.....

• The Romaine complex
The Romaine complex, being built between 2009 and 2020, continues the development of Québec’s hydropower potential. It is a cost-effective contribution to Québec’s long-term energy security.
At current borrowing rates, the cost of the Romaine project, including electricity transmission, is 6.4¢/kWh (in 2015 dollars), before water-power royalties paid to our shareholder, the Québec government. It is worth noting that the cost of borrowing to finance the project is much lower than anticipated when the environmental impact statement on the Romaine complex was filed in January 2008. At 6.4¢/kWh, Hydro-Québec covers all its costs. Any income above 6.4¢/kWh (in 2015 dollars) will thus make a positive contribution to the transfers and dividends paid to the Québec government. It should also be added that the generating stations, which will be commissioned between 2014 and 2020, will run for more than 50 years - more likely 100 years.

 

The Romaine complex, being built between 2009 and 2020, continues the development of Québec’s hydropower potential. It is a cost-effective contribution to Québec’s long-term energy security. At current borrowing rates, the cost of the Romaine project, including electricity transmission, is 6.4¢/kWh (in 2015 dollars), before water-power royalties paid to our shareholder, the Québec government. It is worth noting that the cost of borrowing to finance the project is much lower than anticipated when the environmental impact statement on the Romaine complex was filed in January 2008. At 6.4¢/kWh, Hydro-Québec covers all its costs. Any income above 6.4¢/kWh (in 2015 dollars) will thus make a positive contribution to the transfers and dividends paid to the Québec government. It should also be added that the generating stations, which will be commissioned between 2014 and 2020, will run for more than 50 years - more likely 100 years.
The cost of 9¢ or 10¢/kWh, which is often mentioned in connection with this project, is based on the financial parameters established in 2007. It also includes the water-power royalties paid to our shareholder and the anticipated profit margin on the project (financial return of 12%). As it has turned out, the cost of borrowing so far is considerably lower, and the profit margin should be excluded if we are determining the price threshold at which the project helps increase Hydro-Québec’s profitability.
To put things into perspective, the base price of the agreement recently signed with Vermont is 5.8¢ U.S./kWh in 2012. After that, the price will follow the market. It is therefore inappropriate to speak, as some analysts have done, of a fixed price of 5.5¢/kWh over the next 25 years. Hydro-Québec is fully confident that the price will rise gradually over the 25-year term of the agreement and quickly exceed the 6.4¢/kWh cost of the Romaine project.
The Romaine project has a number of other interesting aspects. For instance, Hydro-Québec has negotiated a special plan for recovery of merchantable softwood stands with the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF) [Québec department of natural resources and wildlife]. Under the plan, over 60% of the volume of merchantable softwood timber will be recovered, according to the MRNF’s usability criteria. The hardwoods cut down at the site of the Romaine complex will serve as firewood to heat homes in Havre-Saint-Pierre and the neighboring communities.

Hydropower is our basic energy. It’s the energy of our geography. The sites occupied by Hydro-Québec’s power line rights-of-way and reservoirs are ecosystems, and they are very much alive. Countries that have hydropower potential comparable to ours (such as Norway) continue to favor hydropower development, just as we do. It is a mission that Hydro-Québec is proud of.

Note to story: Next time we will talk about how we gave away the headwaters in Labrador (The Romaine River). Way to go Danny. But bit by bit all the Solid Gold ideas will come out. Who are the shareholders of Emera and what will they gain if this deal goes through? We will lose our future. Stop this Legacy of Shame!