The government of Newfoundland and Labrador on Nov. 29 declared the 824-MW Muskrat Falls (Lower Churchill Project) hydroelectric project complete and now under the control of the province's grid operator.

Completing the four-unit hydro facility — far behind initial schedules and budgets established when the project was first launched more than a decade ago — is a major step in finishing a large generation-and-transmission network that for the first time connects the island of Newfoundland to the Canadian mainland's electric grid. It also turns provincial government-owned Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro into a power exporter.

One component of the project includes a transmission line, completed in 2017, connecting Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. Utility Nova Scotia Power Inc. began receiving a portion of the Muskrat Falls output through that line earlier this year.

Another component, the roughly 1,100-km Labrador Island Link high-voltage, direct-current transmission line connecting Muskrat Falls to Newfoundland, is available but yet to be formally commissioned.

"There is still more work to be done to conclude all aspects of the project, even as we take this step toward final project completion," N&L Hydro President and CEO Jennifer Williams said in a news release. "We want to see this project complete. Our customers want to see this project complete. We continue to work diligently toward completion of our final milestone throughout the winter."

N&L Hydro said it will be able to take some power from Muskrat Falls this winter to offset use of its 500-MW, oil-fired Holyrood Thermal Generating Project and reduce overall carbon emissions.

Ratepayers will not yet see any cost increases related to Muskrat Falls. "Rates will not double," Williams pledged.

"We know customers are concerned about electricity rates," Williams said. "Our priority is to provide safe, reliable service to customers at the lowest possible cost as we manage the provincial electricity system. Customers will not see any rate impacts from Muskrat Falls until sometime into 2022."

Utility and government officials have in recent weeks made moves to restructure N&L Hydro's leadership and update its regulatory oversight in follow-up actions to the lengthy Muskrat Falls development.