More reliance on Holyrood could be 'perfect storm,' says consumer advocate

The province's consumer advocate warns that relying more on diesel power from the Holyrood plant would not only cost ratepayers, but would also create extra stress on already-troubled equipment.

• Tapping thermal to meet power demand could cost NL Hydro $33M

"In some sense it's a bit of a perfect storm," said Consumer Advocate Tom Johnson.

"It's not what we needed at this point given what we've already been experiencing operationally with Holyrood."

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro said Monday that recent dry weather means its hydro reservoirs are at a 20-year low. At the same time,consumer demand for power isgoing up.

In order to meet the province's power demands, NL Hydrosaidit will use more thermal generation from Holyrood and burn diesel at standby generating sources throughout the province.

At the very time that you'd like to be able to seeHolyroodgiven a little bit of a break, we're seeingHolyroodand these other assets are being called upon more heavily.- Tom Johnson, consumer advocate

This extra thermal generation could cost $33.3 million through 2016, and NL Hydro has asked the Public Utilities Board for approval to pass this expense on to customers.

Johnson is presently reviewing that application. He said he's concerned about what this could mean for the Holyrood power plant, which has had well-documented issues over the past few years.

"At the very time that you'd like to be able to see Holyrood given a little bit of a break, we're seeing Holyrood and these other assets are being called upon more heavily," he said.

"That in my mind increases the probability that we could have further issues going forward."

Johnson said that it's not abnormal for Hydro to pass the "reasonable and prudently incurred costs" of producing electricity on to ratepayers, but that he'll have to look at the application more closely before coming to any conclusive decisions.

"We have no control over how much precipitation falls from the sky and that's generally considered to befair," he said.

"In terms of this new application for seeking regulatory protection for standby generating units it's somewhat akin to what they already have in place for Holyrood, but I want to look at the application more closely before I outline a position on it."