Quebec route still an option for Lower Churchill power: Williams

Premier Danny Williams is denying a report that he has abandoned Quebec as a possible transmission route for theLower Churchill power project.

The Globe and Mail quoted Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro chairman Dean MacDonald saying the Quebec route is off the table, and that Lower Churchill powerwill be transmitted to the United States using undersea transmission lines.

"When you look at what the impediments are in front of us, we really have no alternative," the newspaper reportedMacDonald saying in an interview on Tuesday.

But Williams says that isn't the case.

"Either Mr. MacDonald was incorrect or he was misquoted," Williams said Wednesday.

He said his Hydro chairman is up to speed on the Lower Churchill project, so the Globe and Mail article must be a mistake.

There has been no decision on which route will be used to transmit power to the U.S. market, Williams said, and the idea of using undersea cables is just one possibility.

"That's one of the options we are looking at. It's always been a very seriously considered option. It's not just something we've floated out."

MacDonald couldn't be reached for comment.

But the premier said MacDonald's remarks simply mean that all options are on the table.

"We want to make sure that, if we have problems in dealing with Quebec— and there appears to be some roadblocks in place— that in fact we do have that option," Williams said.

Crunching numbers

He said he will get a full briefing on the Churchill project from Hydro officials next week.

They are still crunching the numbers on which transmission route makes the most sense and there likely won't be a final decision on the project until sometime in 2009, he said.

The Lower Churchill project, as proposed, is a massive undertaking.

At Gull Island, about 225 kilometres downstream from the existing Upper Churchill hydroelectric station — which generates more than 5,400 megawatts of power — Hydro plans to build a 2,000-megawatt station. A much smaller station, of about 800 megawatts, is proposed about 60 kilometres away, at Muskrat Falls.

After entertaining proposals from outside companies and provinces, the Newfoundland and Labrador government decided last year to develop the project alone.