Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's installed generating capacity, 8034 megawatts (MW), is the fourth largest of all utility companies in Canada. Generating assets consist of 16 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
A $6.2 billion deal between Newfoundland and Labrador's Nalcor Energy and Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Emera to develop Muskrat Falls was announced in November 2010.[2] On November 30, 2012, a federal loan guarantee deal for financing of the project was signed by Prime MinisterStephen Harper, Newfoundland and Labrador PremierKathy Dunderdale and Nova Scotia PremierDarrell Dexter.[3][4][5][6] On December 17, 2012, the provincial government announced project sanction.[7][8] Emera received approval to proceed with the Maritime Link from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board in 2013.[9] Financial close for the loan guarantee occurred in late 2013.[10] On September 23, 2020, the first unit at Muskrat Falls was synced to the electricity grid in Labrador. Power from the remaining three units was originally expected to come online in the fall of 2021.[11]
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
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.
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 private hydro projects at Star Lake and Rattle Brook were put into service
2019 - Jennifer Williams replaces Jim Hynes as President of Hydro
2021 - On June 23, 2021, Premier Andrew Furey announced Nalcor Energy would be dismantled and folded into Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.[12]
2023 - In April 2023, Jennifer Williams, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, announced the completion of the final successful test of the 1100km transmission link to Newfoundland as part of the Muskrat Falls. Originally approved in 2012 with an anticipated price tag of around $7.4 billion, the costs of the project had ballooned to more than $13 billion.[13]
