ST. JOHN’S – The head of Hydro‑Québec was in Labrador today to tour a massive hydroelectric plant at the heart of an energy deal he says will be a “clean break” from decades of friction.
Michael Sabia says negotiators with the hydro utilities in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have struck a “balanced” agreement in principle about power from the Churchill Falls facility in Labrador.
He used the word again when asked to explain why he felt the new deal was fair to Canada’s easternmost province, which has been trying for decades to get out of a lopsided contract for Churchill Falls energy that ultimately favoured Hydro‑Québec.
The tentative agreement announced in December would see Hydro‑Québec pay much more for power from the Churchill Falls plant, and it offers the utility an option to co-develop new projects in Labrador with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.
Sabia says he is “100 per cent” confident the largest of those — a new hydroelectric plant at Gull Island, which is also on the Churchill River — will go ahead as hoped.
The two utilities are hammering out final agreements, and they hope to have them in place by April 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2025.
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