Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador announcing energy deal, ending decades of strife

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, left, and Quebec Premier François Legault pose in the Office of the Premier at the Confederation Building in St. John's on Feb. 24, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly)

The premiers of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador are set to announce a resolution Thursday to an energy issue that has driven a wedge between the provinces for decades.

Quebec Premier François Legault is in St. John's, N.L., for an announcement about the Churchill Falls power plant alongside his Newfoundland and Labrador counterpart Andrew Furey.

Under a contract signed in 1969, Quebec can purchase 85 per cent of the electricity from the Labrador plant at less than half a cent per kilowatt hour — a price Furey has said is "essentially free."

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the arrangement is seen as unjust, and the province has unsuccessfully challenged it in court.

The contract expires in 2041, but Furey and Legault announced last year that they had assembled teams to explore how it could be changed now, and what might follow when it ends.

Legault first signalled that an agreement had been reached when he told reporters in Quebec City Wednesday that he was flying to St. John's later in the day.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.