The future of the Atlantic Loop, a project designed to get Nova Scotia and New Brunswick off coal using hydro power generated in Labrador and Quebec, is in serious doubt.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick both say the Atlantic Loop is too costly a venture and they’re going to stick with coal-fired electricity generation for the time being.
Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says the project is no longer viable and the Atlantic Loop is dead.
The provincial government says conversations around energy and energy transmission are ongoing and the province is well-positioned to be an energy powerhouse in the years ahead.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault approached the NL government earlier this year indicating that he is willing to revisit the contentious Upper Churchill contract.
Federal Labour Minister and Newfoundland MP Seamus O’Regan was one of the main proponents of the Atlantic Loop concept. He says they’re willing to continue to talk clean energy with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
He says a meeting is planned with Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in Ottawa next week and says “everything is on the table” including what he says is a generous offer to those two provinces on the Atlantic Loop “whatever works.”
