Minister 'extremely frustrated' over PUB rejection of diesel generating station in southern Labrador

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 1:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster is voicing her frustrations aft the province's Public Utilities Board rejected a projected diesel powerfulness generating presumption successful confederate Labrador — saying the provincial authorities mightiness request to intervene. 

On Monday the PUB rejected an exertion made by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to physique a $110.9 cardinal determination diesel generating presumption and interconnection successful confederate Labrador.

"I americium so, rather frankly, fed up. Out of patience," Dempster told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning on Wednesday.

She says the rejected program hits adjacent to home. Dempster lived adjacent Charlottetown's diesel-powered generating plant, which burned down successful 2019. The towns successful the country present trust connected mobile generation.

"I cannot judge that alternatively of opening up a caller plant, giving residents reliable power, that [Monday] we came to a afloat halt again. I'm highly frustrated," Dempster said.

The projected plant, which would person operated successful Port Hope Simpson, would powerfulness and interconnect six communities successful the region. It besides would person replaced respective existing tiny diesel plants.

Dempster said N.L. Hydro and the PUB request to get to a array to speech and get beyond the impasse.

She says she's also frustrated that, much than a twelvemonth ago, N.L. Hydro submitted thousands of pages of documents for the PUB to reappraisal connected the projected generating station, but the rejection only just present happened.

Green energy

The PUB's determination noted it had a batch much commentary from the nationalist than usual, and that radical wanted environmentally liable solutions.

Dempster understands wherever those concerns are coming from. She was precocious named the curate of Environment and Climate Change during a furniture shuffle implicit the summer. 

Still, she said, the portion needs a reliable root of power, pointing to the area's volunteer firefighters who feel the pressure when powerfulness outages happen. She says outages hap 4 times much than connected the Avalon Peninsula.

"I judge we've got to look to get reliable powerfulness backmost successful a assemblage that's been connected mobile units, a impermanent fix, for astir six years," she said.

In the meantime, Dempster says she has spoken with N.L. Hydro president Jennifer Williams, but a gathering she requested with the PUB was rejected.

"We cannot proceed to beryllium astatine this impasse for an indefinite play of time," she said.

NunatuKavut 'pleased'

But Todd Russell, president of the NunatuKavut community council, wrote successful a connection connected Wednesday that he welcomes the PUB's decision, pointing to a conception that says N.L. Hydro should fulfill its work to consult with the NCC.

"We are pleased that the PUB recognizes N.L. Hydro's responsibilities stemming from Canada's Constitution and arsenic acceptable retired successful the United Nations Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," wrote Russell.

The NCC claims to correspond astir 6,000 self-identifying Inuit successful confederate Labrador, including Dempster.

The NCC isn't recognized arsenic Inuit by immoderate different federally recognized, rights-holding Inuit collective, including the Nunatsiavut authorities successful bluish Labrador and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami — the nationalist enactment representing Inuit crossed Canada — who some accidental the radical is simply a settler organization. 

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