P.E.I. cable project faces delays, possibility of extra costs

A massive P.E.I. infrastructure project has experienced setbacks and delays, and the P.E.I. Energy Corporation is warning it could lead to extra costs for taxpayers.

Thursday, the province's Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Energy received a briefing from the P.E.I. Energy Corporation and Maritime Electric on a $142-million project to bury two electrical cables under the Northumberland Strait.

The project is deemed critical by the provincial government, and has been talked about for more than a decade, as the two existing cables connecting the province to the mainland are reaching the end of their operational lifespans.

• Early ice in Northumberland Strait causes early departure of cable-laying ship

Work to bury the new twin, 180-megawatt cables began in October and they were supposed to be fully operational as of Jan. 23.

But the committee was told there were problems with efforts to bury the cables under the seabed.

Trench kept filling in

"That was one of the challenges we ran into, while the trencher would cut the trench, we were finding that the cable didn't always get into the bottom of the trench," said Mark Victor, a senior engineer with the P.E.I. Energy Corporation.

The Crown corporation will eventually own the cables on behalf of the P.E.I. government, and lease them to the province's main electrical utility company, Maritime Electric.  

"Essentially, what was happening was the trench was filling back in before the cable could drop back into it," Victor said.

As a result, Victor explained that, while both cables have been laid across the bottom of the Northumberland Strait, only about 15 kilometres of the required trenching for the two cables has been completed, with a further 20 km uncompleted or partially completed.

He said the cables were buried in shallower waters closer to the two coasts in order to protect them from winter ice.

Victor said the specialized cable ship Isaac Newton that was supposed to have completed its work by now is berthed in Halifax, waiting for the spring thaw so it can return to P.E.I. to finish the job, which it's estimated will take another 30-40 days.

Project remains on budget, but there are risks

MLA Darlene Compton suggested the cost to maintain a vessel like the Isaac Newton "is going to be $50,000 to $80,000 a day."

"Somebody's losing a lot of money with this delay," she said. "That's I guess a concern I would have for the province, for Maritime Electric, for whomever is involved." 

With a project of this nature there's always a possibility that the contractors could come back with claims for extras.- Mark Victor, P.E.I. Energy Corporation

Compton was told in the committee meeting that the decision to berth the ship in Halifax was made by the company that won the bid for the cable project, the South Korean firm LS Cable, and that P.E.I. has indicated it does not intend to pay for the costs to keep the ship on standby.

After the meeting, Victor told CBC News in an interview that the cable project remains on budget, but "with a project of this nature there's always a possibility that the contractors could come back with claims for extras."

He said the contract with LS Cable contains "certain requirements and procedures they have to follow to do that. Right now we're not aware that any of this extra work is going to be an extra cost to the project. If we are faced with that, we'll deal with it at that time."

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