Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro has confirmed that the Muskrat Falls project will miss next month’s completion deadline of November 26.

In a statement to VOCM News, Hydro places the blame squarely on General Electric’s software, which has been plagued with problems.

The software, needed to push power through the Labrador Island Link to the power station at Soldiers Pond near St. John’s, has critical bugs that continue to crop up during testing.

First and foremost, Hydro insists the reliability of the province’s grid does not rely solely on Muskrat Falls and the LIL. Rather, they insist the aging, oil-fired Holyrood Generating Station remains a key source of power, adding it will continue to be until Muskrat is, quote, “reliably in service.”

But how long that will take is still anyone’s guess. Hydro says they’re at the whim of GE when it comes to a new date for completion, and right now there’s isn’t one.

But they also say the plan was always to keep Holyrood fully operational until the full switch-over to Muskrat, at least until 2023.

What effect the delay will have on electricity rates remains unclear.

The government has long said rates would double once first commercial power is achieved, leading to the recent rate mitigation deal with Ottawa.

If nothing else, the latest delay could give both sides more time to get that done.