N.L., Quebec to make ‘energy security’ announcement Monday, amid reports of a deal

Last week, Montreal-based newspaper La Presse reported they had reached an agreement.

The hydro utilities in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador jointly own the Churchill Falls generating station in Labrador, under a contract signed in 1969 and set to expire in 2041.

The provinces unveiled a framework agreement in 2024 to end the 1969 deal and establish a new arrangement to share energy and expand the Churchill River’s generating capacity.

But when Wakeham was elected last fall, he subjected the draft deal to an independent review and sent a negotiating team back to the bargaining table.

Quebec is counting on the deal to secure the megawatts it needs to meet growing electricity demand through 2075. At a meeting of the country’s premiers last month, Quebec’s Fréchette said she was confident there would be a new deal “in the coming weeks.”

At the time, Wakeham noted the two sides “were making progress” as talks continued.

Then, amid reports last week a deal had been struck, Wakeham’s office said nobody had signed final agreements.

However, a spokesperson for the premier’s office said the province recently made significant progress in its negotiations with Quebec and the government of Canada, without giving more details.

And Hydro-Québec was set to make massive investments to increase production along the Churchill River through partnership projects estimated at over $30 billion.

Currently, Hydro-Québec purchases electricity from the Churchill Falls plant at 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour to resell it at a higher price. The draft agreement signed in 2024 stipulated that Hydro-Québec would gradually increase the rate until 2075, reaching an effective average price of 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour — 30 times the current price.  

The tentative deal also proposed a 550-megawatt upgrade to the Churchill Falls facility and a second 1,100-megawatt power house near the existing plant. It also proposed a new 2,250-megawatt power plant downstream at Gull Island.

The existing Churchill Falls plant has a capacity of 5,428 megawatts and supplies about 15 per cent of Hydro-Québec’s electricity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2026.

— By Eli Ridder in Fredericton, with files from Sarah Smellie, Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman and Patrice Bergeron.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

N.L., Quebec to make ‘energy security’ announcement Monday, amid reports of a deal

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