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Purchasing hydro-power from Newfoundland “gives Ontario a very good option,” Chiarelli said, adding “it’s all subject, of course, to price and to contractual terms” but “we wouldn’t be entering into (these talks) if they wouldn’t bring down rates.

“This is Canada building. It’s looking to the future. It’s taking into account this is clean energy for climate-change purposes,” the minister said, pointing out hydroelectricity is emissions free.

The nearly $7.7-billion Muskrat Falls project includes new transmission lines through Nova Scotia, which will also buy a chunk of the power churned out. Those lines continue into many northeastern U.S. states, some of whom have also expressed interest or signed up to buy some of Muskrat Falls’ over 800 megawatts of power once it’s online in 2017. The Gull Islands project, which is still in planning stages, would add another 2,250 megawatts to Newfoundland’s generation capacity around the end of the decade. That’s being touted as an economic opportunity by Newfoundland’s political leaders, but some are concerned whether the costs will be passed onto provincial ratepayers.

The new developments are downstream from the nearly 5,500 megawatt Churchill Falls Generating station, which is jointly owned between Newfoundland’s Nalcor energy Crown corporation and Hydro-Québec. The two provinces have been embroiled in court battles over rates set out in a decades-old deal, which gives Québec 34 per cent ownership and lower costs to purchase the power. Though not directly related to the new Lower Churchill projects, that case could potentially affect the Muskrat Falls and Gull Islands development or how much of the surplus power Newfoundland could sell.

That wrangling continues, but Chiarelli suggested Quebec knows about and is on board with his province’s negotiations with Newfoundland.

“Quebec is very aware that collectively we’re all trying to move toward a national grid…. They’ve very OK with it,” he said. “We’re all on the same page. Very happy to see Quebec being part of the national energy strategy … to see change from where it has been in the past, when Quebec was an impediment to national progress.”