Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Crown Corporation
Industry Electricity generation & distribution
Founded St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (1954)
Headquarters St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Key people
 Jim Haynes, President
Products Electricity
Revenue $493,500,000 CAN
Number of employees
 1,150 (2005)
Parent Nalcor Energy
Subsidiaries Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited
Lower Churchill Development Corporation Limited
Gull Island Power Company Limited
Twin Falls Power Corporation Limited
Website www.nlh.nl.ca

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (commonly known as merely Hydro) is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, and the north-eastern areas of the United States. The company is a subsidiary of Nalcor Energy.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's installed generating capacity, 7289 megawatts (MW), is the fourth largest of all utility companies in Canada. Generating assets consist of 12 hydroelectric plants, including the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant, which is the second largest underground power station in the world, with a rated capacity of 5,428 MW of power, one oil-fired plant, four gas turbines and 26 diesel plants. Every year, Hydro generates and transmits over 80% of the electrical energy consumed by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians – over 6,487 GWh of energy in 2004. Hydro also distributes power directly to 35,000 customers in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 1975, the Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission, a crown corporation originally established to assist in rural electrification, was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is the parent company of the Hydro Group of Companies, which comprises

Grid operations, services and connections

Atlantic power connections

The Nova Scotia government commissioned (from SNC-Lavalin) a study in 2009 to consider an Atlantic wide regional electricity market operator.[1]

A $6.2 billion deal between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's parent company, Nalcor Energy and Halifax-based Emera was announced by premiers Darrell Dexter and Danny Williams on November 18, 2010. Nalcor Energy will spend $2.9 billion to build a power generating facility at Muskrat Falls, while Emera will invest $1.2-billion in the Maritime Transmission Link underwater power connection and $600 million in the Muskrat Falls facility in exchange for 20% of the 800-megawatts of capacity.

Generating facilities

Hydroelectric Generating Stations

Labrador (5,447 MW)

Newfoundland (1,254 MW)

Non-Utility Generators

Thermal (Diesel) Generating Stations

Labrador (32.8 MW)

Newfoundland (23.5 MW)

Thermal (Oil) Generating Stations

Newfoundland (490 MW)

Gas Turbine Generating Stations

Labrador (27 MW)

Newfoundland (100 MW)

Highlights in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

  • 1947 – George Desbarats hired as an engineering consultant to undertake a water power survey
  • 1949 – Premier J.R. Smallwood promised to create a public utility
  • 1954 – On June 22, the Power Commission Act was passed creating the Newfoundland Power Commission, what would become Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
  • 1956 – George Desbarats began as Commissioner and sole employee of the Newfoundland Power Commission.
  • 1956 - British Newfoundland Development Corporation (BRINCO) was formed to explore development at Bay d'Espoir and later Churchill Falls
  • 1958 – Premier Smallwood announced his Rural Electrification Plan
  • 1958 – John Ryan succeeds George Desbarats as Chair of the Commission
  • 1961 – Frank Newbury becomes Chair of the Commission
  • 1963 – Government passed the Rural Electrification Act, which established power distribution districts (PDDs) to assist non-incorporated municipalities to access electricity where feasible
  • 1964 - George Hobbs becomes Chair
  • 1964 – Bay d'Espoir Hydro Electric Development begins
  • 1965 – Government signed an agreement with Newfoundland Light and Power to give it ownership of the rural lines connected to its system. Any future lines would be jointly constructed.
  • 1965 – The Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission Act replaced the 1954 Power Commission Act and created the Newfoundland and Labrador Rural Electrical Authority (REA). The Act also provided for the establishment of a province-wide electrical code.
  • 1966 – Bay d'Espoir Stage 2 began construction
  • 1968 – Construction on Holyrood Thermal Generating Station began
  • 1969 – CFLCo and Hydro-Québec sign the Upper Churchill Falls power contract
  • 1971 – First power from Churchill Falls delivered to Quebec
  • 1974 – Churchill Falls project was complete.
  • 1974 – Wallace Read replaces George Hobbs as Chair of the Power Commission.
  • 1974 - Government acquires part ownership of CFLCo from Brinco
  • 1975 – Government reforms the Commission into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro-Electric Corporation (Hydro)
  • 1975 – Denis Groom appointed as President and CEO of Hydro
  • 1975 – Government appoints Douglas Fullerton as the first Chairman of the Board of the Hydro Group of Companies.
  • 1978 – Stage 3 of the Bay d'Espoir project was officially opened
  • 1978 – Victor Young replaced Denis Groom as chairman and CEO of Hydro
  • 1980 – Hinds Lake Hydro Electric Development came on stream
  • 1981 – Roddickton mini-hydro generating station opened
  • 1983 – Upper Salmon Hydro Electric Development plant opened
  • 1985 – Cat Arm Hydro Electric Development opened making it the second largest hydro project on the island.
  • 1985 – Cyril Abery replaced Vic Young as chairman and CEO
  • 1989 – Paradise River Hydro Electric Development became operational
  • 1989 – Hydro Place became the official headquarters for the Hydro Group of Companies
  • 1991 – Cyril Abery resigned as chairman and CEO. He was replaced by David Mercer as President and CEO, while James Chalker assumed the duties of chairman of the board.
  • 1995 – William Wells replaced David Mercer as President and CEO of Hydro.
  • 1998 – Two small-scale private hydro projects at Star Lake and Rattle Brook were put into service
  • 2003 – New 40 MW Granite Canal Hydro Electric Development officially opened

See also

References

  1. ↑ Province (NS) explores options for cleaner power grid
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