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Speaking with reporters on Friday, Minister Lela Evans was tight-lipped about details of the new MOU. (Curtis Hicks\/CBC)<\/p>\nMore details are emerging about a new Churchill Falls deal between N.L. and Quebec, including plans to boost energy production and how it will be split.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, sources not authorized to speak confirmed to CBC News a memorandum of understanding was close to being struck between the provinces, with a formal announcement possibly coming next week.<\/p>\n
As first reported by Radio-Canada, according to sources close to the matter, each province will receive significantly more electricity than the previous MOU stipulated \u2014 with nearly 40 per cent more for Quebec and between 25 per cent and 60 per cent more for N.L.<\/p>\n
Quebec will receive around 10,000 MW, while N.L. will receive at least 2,350 MW \u2014 possibly as much as 3,000 MW. Some details still remain to be worked out.<\/p>\n
To increase electricity production by that amount, the two sides have agreed to develop an even more powerful hydroelectric facility at Gull Island and further increase the generating capacity of the turbines at the existing Churchill Falls plant.<\/p>\n
The new agreement also includes wind power, which was not part of the 2024 MOU.<\/p>\n
According to sources, this is where the main difference between the two agreements lies. The price at which the electricity will be sold is not expected to have changed significantly.<\/p>\n
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Minister Lela Evans was tight-lipped about details of the new MOU. (Curtis Hicks\/CBC)<\/p>\n
During last year\u2019s election, N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham promised the Churchill Falls MOU would be put to a referendum if his party formed government.<\/p>\n
When asked if a new deal should be put for a referendum, Lela Evans, Torngat Mountain MHA and Minister for Labrador Affairs, did not address the question, instead pointing out the PCs have been in government for the better part of a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we’re starting to see now what a Tony Wakeham government is doing. It\u2019s creating opportunities for the people in the province. It’s going to create a lot of jobs and it’s going to create a lot of financial wealth for our residents,\u201d she told reporters Friday, before segueing back to the fertility funding announcement she was at Confederation Building to make.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Will Wakeham hold a referendum?:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786776741_524_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Referendum question lingers as new Churchill Falls MOU expected next week<\/p>\n
If a new Churchill Falls deal is announced next week, there is one question that’s sure to dog Premier Tony Wakeham. Will he hold the referendum he promised on election night? The CBC\u2019s Mark Quinn reports.<\/p>\n
When Radio-Canada asked whether the deal could be released Monday, or potential reaction from the Innu Nation on a wind project on their land, Evans was tight-lipped, once again pivoting to speaking about the funding announcement.<\/p>\n
Labrador City Mayor Jordan Brown said people in his region have been waiting for a new deal that will boost electricity production.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a make-or-break kind of situation. If no deal was had \u2026 within this year, we could have seen cancellations of projects and probably a mini-recession here in the region,\u201d Brown told CBC Radio\u2019s Labrador Morning.<\/p>\n
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Labrador City Mayor Jordan Brown says his region needs the additional energy a new Churchill Falls deal would bring. (Terry Roberts\/CBC)<\/p>\n
In the revamped deal, first reported by allNewfoundlandLabrador and confirmed by a source to CBC, there’s a guaranteed transmission access of 985 megawatts through Quebec. This means Newfoundland and Labrador can sell up to that amount of Churchill River electricity by sending it through Quebec, using Hydro-Quebec\u2019s transmission network, and on to other markets. For example, if Massachusetts needed power, Newfoundland and Labrador could sell it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s a good, positive point,\u201d said Brown, adding there are a lot of projects in Labrador that could make use of that power.<\/p>\n
While the exact details of the MOU haven\u2019t been released, Brown said he\u2019d like to see assistance from the federal government with construction, including for a long-awaited third transmission line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need that done yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A breakthrough \u2014 if it’s true and real\u2019<\/p>\n
Gabe Gregory, a consultant and accountant who co-wrote an 82-page review of the 2024 version of the Churchill Falls MOU earlier this year, said market access could be a \u201csignificant\u201d development.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly that sounds like a breakthrough \u2014 if it’s true and real,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Official details on the MOU aren\u2019t currently known and he cautioned people to not get caught up in the announcement, as details can turn out to be different than initially reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a deal, I guess we’ll hear about it in the coming days. But even then, you know, I think there’ll be a lot of political spin on both sides,\u201d said Gregory.<\/p>\n
Gregory wants to see the new MOU go through an independent review, like the 2024 MOU was.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the government should also live up to its commitment for a referendum. Because at the end of the day, this is the people’s resource. We own this and we all deserve the right to have our say in regard to the future of that development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Friends of Renewable Churchill Energy chair Ben Oates, a coalition that mostly supported the previous MOU, said the details of the new MOU are similar to the previous one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bones are the same. We open up the old 1969 contracts and get fair value for our power, finally,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re all pleased to see improvements. These improvements should have been worked out towards final negotiations. We didn’t need to stop the music and basically cool our heels for a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oates added an upcoming election in Quebec \u2014 where separatist Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois is expected to win \u2014 puts a deal at risk.<\/p>\n
LISTEN | CBC’s Bernice Hillier speaks with Gabe Gregory and Ben Oates on the new MOU:<\/p>\n
CBC Newfoundland Morning14:12How new is the new Churchill Falls MOU? We spoke with someone who thinks not much has changed since the first new mou and from Friends of Renewable Churchill Energy. <\/p>\n
The Churchill Falls MOU is in the news again. Sources say a new deal between this province and Quebec is being finalized. Gabe Gregory is a consultant and accountant…Earlier this year he co-authored an 82-page report about the deal and its independent review committee. Ben Oates is the chair of Friends of Renewable Churchill Energy, or FORCE N-L.<\/p>\n
Download our free CBC News app<\/a> to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here<\/a>. Click here to visit our landing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More details are emerging about a new Churchill Falls deal between N.L. and Quebec, including plans to boost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":["post-814210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}