The consumer advocate says there was no other choice but to restructure the financial package for Muskrat Falls given the cost over-runs and other pitfalls. Dennis Browne was reacting to the agreement between Ottawa and Newfoundland and Labrador to begin negotiations on re-working the multi-billion dollar package.

To start, Ottawa gave the province a reprieve on an $844-million loan repayment, most of which was due by the end of the month.

Browne notes that the money still has to be paid.

Muskrat was built partly on the notion of gaining revenue from exports but electricity costs two or three cents on the open market. It costs over 30 cents per KWH to produce at Muskrat.

Moreover, Browne says Newfoundland and Labrador has to get its own house in order and rewrite the act which governs the Public Utilities Board. That was a recommendation of the LeBlanc Inquiry.

The provincial government can do everything in its power to keep rates as low as possible but there’s nothing stopping Newfoundland Power, the primary retailer of electricity, from applying for increases in the rates which they charge customers.