ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The proposed Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project should be independently reviewed by international energy experts, says former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford.

In an open letter to Tory Premier Kathy Dunderdale, Peckford said the province’s Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities lacks the expertise to assess the $6.2-billion project.

Dunderdale shrugged off the letter as an out-of-date "missive from afar," but Peckford joins a list of former public servants and lawyers who have cast doubt on the venture.

The board is reviewing plans to harness power from the Lower Churchill project in Labrador with links to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

"Frankly, the board and its staff do not have the expertise to evaluate this project," Peckford wrote in the letter sent Tuesday.

He said the board is primarily a regulatory body mandated to deal with such issues as electricity rates and petroleum pricing.

"It is not structured to assess a multibillion-dollar project, examining it against other modes of generation and transmission."

The board is to report by March 31 on whether power from Muskrat Falls is needed, and if it would be cheaper than the island of Newfoundland remaining isolated from mainland energy sources.

Other critics have already assailed the provincial government’s refusal to allow the board a requested extension for its review.

On Tuesday, NDP Leader Lorraine Michael declined an opportunity to make a presentation at hearings before the board’s commissioners. She said the government is rushing a costly project without doing enough to weigh alternatives.

Peckford, a Progressive Conservative who was premier for 10 years before retiring in 1989, said other options such as natural gas have not been fully explored.

He moved to British Columbia to start a consulting business but was out of the country travelling Tuesday.

"Times have changed," he wrote to Dunderdale. "In the ’60s, and ’70s and even ’80s, hydro was king. This is not necessarily so today.

"It may be the best project ever," Peckford said of Muskrat Falls. "But the project has to be tested objectively, especially given the size and complexity of the project, and the severe financial implications on the province if the contingency identified is insufficient."

Peckford said an independent panel of "highly qualified people of international stature in energy policy" should be given six months to review the development.

He noted a deal, which is widely despised in the province, giving Quebec access to power and profits from the Upper Churchill hydroelectric plant in Labrador runs out in 2041.

At that time, the province "will have substantial very low-cost hydro power," Peckford wrote.

 

With Paul McLeod, Ottawa Bureau