There’s been a serious rebuke of the province’s energy plan by the author of a report for the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies.
Dr. James Feehan accuses the provincial government of being ‘protectionist and monopolist’ when it comes to legislation regarding its electricity market. In his report, Feehan says the legislation will actually deny residents of the province the gain accrued through trade.
Feehan says the government has banned private-sector electricity retailers and large energy intensive businesses on the island from developing their own sources of electricity. He says those same businesses cannot buy from independent power producers because the law also entrenches the monopoly of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro which has been given the exclusive right of supply, distribution and sale of electrical power in the island’s wholesale market. He says the law gives Hydro an ‘iron grip’ on the island’s wholesale market. Institute President Marco Navarro-Genie says Professor Feehan does an ‘excellent job’ outlining what he calls the pitfalls of Newfoundland and Labrador’s decision to outlaw competition in its electricity market.