PUB review of Muskrat Falls gets new deadline

Newfoundland and Labrador's Public Utilities Board has been given some extra time to finish its review of the Muskrat Falls project.

The review was supposed to be finished by the end of this month. But the provincial government extended the deadline until March 31, 2012, after the PUB said it couldn't finish the review on time.

Natural Resources Minister Jerome Kennedy said the new timeline would allow the report's findings to be reviewed during the spring sitting of the house of assembly.

"The PUB report will be an important piece of information for government to consider to make a decision on final project sanction, and we look forward to the findings in the report," Kennedy said in a press release.

In June, the provincial government formally asked the Public Utilities Board to review whether Muskrat Falls would provide the cheapest new source of power for Newfoundland and Labrador.

The PUB hired Manitoba Hydro International to help with that assessment.

In late October, the board said it was still waiting for information from Nalcor Energy, and asked the government for an extension.