One of the key players in the development of Muskrat Falls is gone as Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro provided an update on cost-cutting measures taken, resulting in an overall $19 million reduction in operating costs.
Gilbert Bennett, the last of a group Nalcor/Hydro executives to be cut by Hydro, worked his last day yesterday.
CEO Jennifer Williams says Hydro has cut its number of executive positions in half. Eighteen executive positions were cut in June of 2021, and yesterday, the position of Vice President, Power Generation was eliminated. That brings the total number of executive roles in the organization to nine.
Questions were raised last year as to why Bennett was not among the executives cut when Hydro and Nalcor merged operations.
Hydro has also made adjustments to compensation, eliminating executive vehicle allowances and performance bonuses for all senior-level employees.
Redundancies have been removed, travel costs reduced and changes have been made to other miscellaneous spending, however, inflation has ‘significantly’ affected Hydro’s costs, including fuel, insurance and other operational expenses. For the time being, Hydro says those costs have been absorbed.
Williams says they are now turning their attention toward meeting a federal net-zero electricity standard by 2035 by supporting the province’s efforts to switch from oil use in homes and businesses and preparing for an increase in the use of electric vehicles. Earlier this month Hydro announced that it will have to expand Bay d’Espoir and continue to rely on Holyrood to meet that demand amid continued concerns over the reliability of the Labrador-Island Link.