Players look to future after court sides with Hydro-Quebec on Churchill Falls
OTTAWA — Newfoundland’s premier and Hydro-Quebec say they will look to the future, not dwell on the past, now that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Quebec has no legal obligation to reopen the divisive 1969 Churchill Falls energy deal.
In a 7-1 ruling Friday, the high court said it cannot force the parties to renegotiate the decades-old contract even though the arrangement has turned out to be unexpectedly lucrative for the Quebec utility but much less so for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Under the deal, Hydro-Quebec agreed to buy almost all the energy generated by the power plant on the Churchill River in Labrador.
The contract, covering 65 years, set a fixed price for the electricity that would decrease over time. It has earned more than $27.5 billion for Hydro-Quebec to date and about $2 billion for Newfoundland and Labrador.