The best laid "plans"

Fearless Leader goes before the mic on Wednesday and, in addition to something about kangaroos, burbles some stuff to reveal that He still, quaintly, believes in His imaginary Lower Churchill project:

This is a long-term plan, this is not a short-term agenda here, I mean, this is something that could happen over one, two, five, ten, fifteen, twenty years. Now that doesn’t mean, though, that the project would necessarily be delayed by that period of time. That means that this option and these avenues could be delayed until we get a proper resolution. But in the meantime, this government and/or Nalcor will be looking at all its options, and whether that happens to be the Maritime route or various segments of the Gull or Muskrat Falls developments, something we’d be looking at.

Now, this is odd.

Government and/or Nalcor (as if there’s a distinction) are still “looking at” options, not just for the imaginary transmission line, but for which of the imaginary dams and power stations they will imaginatively build… and this, in the calendar year after Our Dear Energy Plan (bloated 8-meg .pdf link here) planned, energetically, as follows:

To ensure this project has every opportunity to move forward, the Provincial Government is leading its development through the Energy Corporation. The Energy Corporation has established a comprehensive and clearly-defined project execution plan and will continue to advance the project on multiple fronts, including engineering and the environmental assessment process, analysis of market access options and market destinations, and a financing strategy. The project is targeting sanction in 2009, with in-service of Gull Island in 2015.

[…]

We recognize that developing long-distance inter-jurisdictional transmission is a complex process that must address many factors and mitigate numerous risks. Nevertheless, NLH is well-advanced in this process with respect to Lower Churchill and on schedule to present the Provincial Government with the opportunity to sanction the project in 2009.

Oh – speaking of 2009 and Our Dear Energy Plan:

In 1998, the Provincial Government imposed a moratorium on small hydro projects on the Island. We will decide by 2009 whether we will have to implement an alternate plan for electricity supply on the Island. If that is the case, small hydro may be an effective source of renewable supply and the Provincial Government will review the current moratorium to ensure availability of sources that are environmentally appropriate for the province.