Cost was identified as an issue in discussions under a 2007 memorandum of understanding between the state and the provincial government, but the State of Rhode Island remains interested in the possibility of purchasing electrical power.
That’s not even close to what natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale told the people of Newfoundland and Labrador during the emergency session of the legislature last week:
They found out that they did not have the capacity to negotiate a long-term power purchase agreement with Nalcor on behalf of the Province. Nor were they able, in their Legislature, to do the regulatory changes that were required in order to wheel electricity into the state. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we learned a lot through that discussion but it was not possible and we have moved on because other customers are in a position to be able to do business with Newfoundland and Labrador.Nothing had been heard about the MOU from the time it was announced until the questions in the legislature. Bond Papers labelled it missing in action.
