Meanwhile in Nova Scotia

Oh, look! The Premier admits that and undersea cable is a more expensive means of transmitting imaginary Lower Churchill Power.

No, not that Premier — the other one. The Chronically-Horrid reports today:

Premier Darrell Dexter said he’s not surprised Newfoundland and Labrador is looking for a cheaper option than an underwater cable connection to Nova Scotia for moving energy from Lower Churchill to market.

"The sheer economics of it are undeniable in terms of a transportation corridor for that energy," the premier said after a cabinet meeting Thursday.

[...]

While Newfoundland and Labrador’s new energy company, Nalcor Energy, is looking for a cheaper transportation route for the electricity through Quebec, it is not ruling out an undersea cable to Nova Scotia.

"We are still having significant discussions — it’s no secret — with Emera (Inc.)," said Ed Martin, Nalcor president, in a telephone interview Thursday.

[...]

An SNC-Lavalin transmission system study for the Nova Scotia government estimates the cost of connecting Newfoundland and Nova Scotia at $800 million to $1.2 billion. The estimate of connecting Nova Scotia to New England is $2 billion to $3 billion.

Now, isn't that strange... Not so very long ago, Our Dear Premier was planning to route Our Dear Infeed from Our Dear Lower Churchill through Gros Morne National Park, which he somehow imagined was a shorter, cheaper route than going around Gros Morne National Park.

And somehow, for taking the shorter route around a national park, in ODP's strange little universe, this meant that the federal government should be on the hook for some of those transmission line costs.

Not only is Our Dear Lower Churchill cost-sensitive such that a Labrador routing closer to the new Trans-Labrador Highway was ruled out — the mitigated costs of accessing the corridor were outweighed by the additional cost of materiel for the consequently longer line — they were so cost-sensitive that the federal government would be called upon to help Us go it alone by compensating Us for saving money.

Cost, obviously, is a factor.

A huge factor.

That is where the latest rounds of Holy Warfare stem from. We, that is, He, want to shift the cost-burden of transmitting Lower Churchill power to (a) Ottawa, and (b) Quebec. Without shifting those costs, on top of the cost-shift that We expect in the form of loan guarantees and whatnot for building the power plants themselves, the business case for the Lower Churchill evaporates, assuming it exist even with them.

And yet, in this incredibly cost-sensitive environment, there are still many gullible people, in Nova Scotia and elsewhere, who believe that the submarine route through that province is viable, or at least more viable than the terrestrial alternative.

Are they kidding?

After all, one of the 95 Theses that We have posted on the door of Hydro-Quebec's Montreal siège social is that Quebec is throwing obstacles in the way of Our Dear Lower Churchill.

Crazy obstacles, like... like... like... not paying to build Our transmission line across Quebec.

So just imagine the war that will ensue when We get wind of Premier Dexter's further remarks:

In talking about the connection to Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Dexter said Nova Scotia Power could be one of the private interests that would look at it, but it wouldn’t be provincial taxpayers.

"We’re not going to build it," he said.

Looks like Nova Scotia is not going to help Us go it alone, either. The traitors.