'Remarkable achievement': Ed Martin sings praises of Muskrat Falls with 1st power to island

Former NalcorCEO Ed Martin has taken a lot of heat for his leadership of of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric megaproject, but with power flowing from Churchill Falls to Newfoundland, he's basking in what he sees as success.

"I was so pleased to see the historic milestone yesterday," Martin wrote in a statement emailed Thursday.

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"I was particularly proud of the entire team at Nalcor Energy who have spent many years working towards this tremendous accomplishment," Martin said, adding to current NalcorEnergy CEO Stan Marshall's praise for employees.

Martin said connecting the island by two transmission line routes the other being the Maritime Link to Nova Scotia "will have a meaningful impact on citizens." Those benefits include better reliability and eventually eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the Holyroodoil-fired plant.

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"We have now fulfilled the vision providing dual access into eastern North America to sell our excess energy for the benefit of the people of our province," wrote Martin.

"It really is a remarkable achievement."

'Always a generational strategy'

The price tag of Muskrat Falls hasballooned to $12.7 billion from the estimated $6.2 billion at sanction in 2012, andthe provincial government has commissioned a public inquiry to get to the bottom of how that happened.

As former CEO, Martin has come in for heavy public criticism.

Withelectricity rates set to double when Muskrat Falls reaches full power in 2020, on top of increases every year, the project has seen widespread criticism even from Martin's successor.

Eventuallythe people of this province will pay some of the lowest electricity rates in the country.- Ed Martin

But at the celebration of first power from Labrador on Wednesday, Marshall said the project will benefit the province in the long run.

"I was also heartened to hear my successor acknowledge that the Muskrat Falls project is indeed a good project over the long term," wrote Martin.

"He also recognized that eventually the people of this province will pay some of the lowest electricity rates in the country."

Martin reiterated he has long maintained the project was "never meant to cure all of the problems or create a huge cash flow in a year, fiveyears or even 10 years."

"Muskrat Falls was always a generational strategy with goals of becoming energy self-sufficient as a province, gaining access to lucrative North American markets, positioning us for the future," he said.