An economics professor at l’Universite d’Ottawa thinks Hydro-Quebec’s La Romaine project isn’t profitable at the projected sale price to Vermont of 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour when the electricity will cost 6.4 cents per kwh to produce.
Hydro-Quebec’s retort is that electricity prices will go up.
Sounds familiar.
Jean-Thomas Bernard also doubts HQ’s cost of 6.4 cents per kwh. The company attributes the drop in cost of production to better interest rates resulting from loan guarantees. The initial estimate was 10 cents per kwh. Bernard says the guarantees and interest rate savings would only shave half a cent off the cost.
HQ needs to follow Nalcor’s example. Rather than sell electricity from La Romaine cheaply to domestic and export consumers, HQ should force the Quebec ratepayers to carry the full cost of the entire project and sell discount power only on the export market.
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