Planning for today, tomorrow and the future – 2019

On November 15^th Hydro filed its 2019 annual update to the comprehensive Reliability and Resource Adequacy Study filed with the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities in 2018.  Hydro is always planning to ensure we can deliver reliable electricity to our customers – Newfoundland Power, Industrial Customers, direct commercial and residential customers.

The Reliability and Resource Adequacy Study addresses our long-term approach to providing that continued least-cost, reliable service.  The completed study considers a wide range of possible scenarios (12 cases in total) over a ten-year planning period from 2020 – 2029.  We have taken into consideration our current and future supply availability, government’s commitment to rate mitigation and the impact on load forecasts, key system risks, and the Liberty Consulting Group’s review of the 2018 filing.

We are committed to a comprehensive approach to planning; and under this commitment this is the first annual update. Hydro is currently working through the regulatory process with the Board review of both the 2018 filing and this annual update with key parties, with the goal of aligning on approval of new planning criteria.

Our preference is to take a conservative approach to long term planning and therefore, Hydro will not make significant investments in the system until the need is well understood and all options have been carefully considered.  This was reinforced through public engagement activities where the majority of customers demonstrated a preference for cautious system investment. We plan to expand on our commitment to public engagement in 2020.

The full Reliability and Resource Adequacy Study 2019 update has been filed in three volumes and is available on the Board’s website.  As we did last year, we have compiled a summary document (click image above to link to it) which highlights the key observations, approach and next steps.