Page 39 - CCCA 226419 Magazine Fall 2014

{ sPotligHt oN… } “ T e client is pursuing changes to ensure the requirements generating Facility” are met, but also required oversight… you always had your regulatory hat on as you were doing the job. ❚ Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric a hydroelectric generating facility is being constructed at Muskrat Falls on the lower Churchill river, approximately 30 km west of Happy Valley-goose Bay. the facility consists of two dams and a pow- erhouse, and will be the second-largest hydroelectric facility in the province when complete. ❚ Labrador-Island Link the proposed labrador-island link will carry electricity from the generating facility at Muskrat Falls to the island of (L to R) Panelists Xeno Martis, Fasken Martineau; Todd Stanley, Government of Newfound- newfoundland. it will be 1,100 km long, land and Labrador; Derrick Sturge, Nalcor Energy; and James Meaney, Nalcor Energy. running from central labrador, crossing the strait of Belle isle and extending to other parts of the f le, our client’s role was the legislative changes required to establish newfoundland’s avalon peninsula. as regulators whose interests might not be the revenue structures underpinning the f - ❚ Labrador transmission assets in line with Nalcor’s.” nancing and the project, to watching briefs in addition to the proposed labrador- For example, he explained, in order to on other aspects of the transaction. The island link, further transmission lines give the loan guarantee, the federal govern- DOJ was assisted by teams at Borden Lad- will be required in labrador to transmit ment “needed certain property interests ner Gervais and the former Ottenheimer power between Muskrat Falls and the from Nalcor and Emera, which required a Baker (now part of McInnes Cooper). existing hydroelectric facility in Churchill change in the province’s legislation. So the “A transaction this large develops grad- Falls. two transmission lines will be con- client is pursuing changes to ensure the re- ually over time, which meant constantly structed between the hydroelectric gen- quirements are met, but also required over- reevaluating and restructuring responsibil- erating facilities in both locations. sight to ensure the changes to the Province’s ities and resources, in this case from 2010- property regime were as limited in scope as 2013,” said Stanley. “The f le waxes and ❚ Maritime Link possible; you always had your regulatory wanes, so you have to ensure that you have a transmission link is planned between hat on as you were doing the job.” the resources in place to handle the poten- the island of newfoundland and nova The DOJ’s six-person Lower Churchill tiality that it can run hot at any moment.” ❚ scotia and will be f nanced and con- legal team performed varying roles. These structed by nova scotia’s emera inc. ranged from direct involvement in aspects of the f nancing, in the agreements and in Bev Cline is a writer based in Toronto, Ontario. Canadian Corporate Counsel assoCiation | CCCa-aCCje.org 39