Mainland power cable estimate for P.E.I. sought

The P.E.I. government is looking for an updated cost estimate for building a new power connection to the mainland.

The two existing electricity cables were installed 36 years ago and are near the end of their lifespan.

The province has asked for two estimates: one for a submarine cable under the Northumberland Strait and the other for a link through the Confederation Bridge. Previous estimates were between $80 million and $100 million.

According to one of the requests, the P.E.I. government plans to ask Ottawa for money by April of next year, under the Build Canada Fund.

A third cable was promised in 2005 by the federal Liberal government of Paul Martin, but that project was scrapped after the Conservatives came to power.

In 2011, federal Transportation Minister Chuck Strahl said a third cable wasn't on P.E.I.'s priority list for the Build Canada Fund, even though the province had been lobbying for the money. The province had applied under another federal funding program, and been denied.