August’s paper and the September House vote are a framework and a political yes — not signed contracts. There is still time to insist that firm power this province keeps is used here — mines and Labrador industry first. Compute is one named use of leftover firm power, not the opener, and not a reserved block.
The Churchill Falls / Gull Island DCIA is a framework. The House endorsed it. Binding contracts are not signed. There is still time to insist that firm power this province keeps is used here — mines and Labrador industry first. Compute is one named use of that power, not the opener, and not a reserved block.
Open People is a constituent and catalyst voice from St. John's. Tom Lane is not a DCIA party, an offtake seat, or a demand seat. Partners would own any steel. This page is for people who want the optionality kept in writing.
Public voice still matters because the long-form paper can still say who gets the power, on what notice, and whether unused megawatts slide west by default. This is a stress-test, not a campaign to scrap the deal.
01 · Binding paper is still unsigned
The House said yes 21–18 in September. That vote does not write the power-purchase contracts. Binding paper is aimed at around year-end. The framework clock can run into March 2027.
The House endorsed the DCIA framework 21–18 on 17 September 2026. That vote does not create power-purchase agreements. Definitive agreements are targeted around 31 December 2026. The DCIA instrument can run to 31 March 2027.
02 · Québec votes 5 October
Next public political gate is early October in Québec. It is not an NL door you can walk through. It still matters for the other government on the paper.
The next public political gate is the Québec election. It is not an NL door you can walk through. It still matters for the counterparty government.
03 · In-province use is still optional
Public talk is enough firm power for a few large industrial campuses — still not a year-by-year signed list of who gets it. That campus scale is an illustration, not a project. Announcement language only: not a signed compute tranche, not a published industrial queue, and not a confirmed preference versus Hydro-Québec or mining.
Public framing is about 2,350 MW retained from Churchill Falls and Gull Island, plus wind if built. That is announcement language, not a signed compute tranche, not a published industrial queue, and not a confirmed preference versus Hydro-Québec or mining.Aug 17 announcement language — not a signed allocation
04 · Recall language is still open
Jason Chee-Aloy of Power Advisory told the House a three-year notice recall could let NL keep more power at home. That is testimony. It is not confirmed in signed contract text.
05 · Innu Nation partnership is unresolved
Innu Nation urged MHAs not to vote. The Premier said he will meet. Royalty and Gull Island tariff path remain unsettled. Nothing large in Labrador proceeds without that work.
06 · Federal environmental assessment is a live gap
Ottawa has not yet confirmed this plant matches the older review — and the 2026 description is larger than what was studied then.
IAAC has said no new federal impact assessment is needed if 2026 Gull Island matches the 2006–2012 Lower Churchill review. The agency has not received proponent confirmation that the scopes match. The 2026 plant as described is larger than the roughly 2,000 MW reviewed then.IAAC public posture · 2012 Lower Churchill review
07 · Wind SPE is unnamed
DCIA §13 leaves a Wind special-purpose entity unnamed, at NL Hydro’s sole discretion. Federal Canada — not CPP — may take up to 40% SPE equity in the public framing. A ~$8B / 100% CPP-held “A” company remains unknown. Do not invent the name.
No invented megawatts or prices. These are questions the long-form should answer in public — or admit it does not.
01
Who gets the power, year by year — not only a headline retain number.
How in-province power will be metered and scheduled, year by year — not just a headline retain figure.
02
What “used here” means in the contract, in words a voter can check.
The contract definition of domestic / in-province load, in words a voter can check.
03
If we don’t use the retained power, who gets it by default — so leftover megawatts do not slide west by indecision.
What happens to unused retain: default buyer, notice, and price — so leftover megawatts do not slide west by indecision.
04
Whether the three-year recall talked about in the House is actually in the signed paper.
Whether a recall right is in the signed text, not only in House testimony (including the three-year notice described to MHAs).
05
Whether uses beyond mining — towns, other Labrador industry, and compute if the province writes it — are allowed at all.
Whether industrial uses beyond mining — towns, other Labrador industry, and compute if the province writes it — are eligible at all.
06
Whether the Innu Nation partnership, royalty, and Gull Island tariff path is settled before large Labrador builds lock.
Whether an Innu Nation partnership / royalty / Gull Island tariff path is settled before large Labrador builds lock.
07
Whether Ottawa has been told this 2026 plant matches the older review — or that a new assessment is coming.
Whether the proponent has confirmed that 2026 Gull Island matches the 2012 Lower Churchill federal review scope — or that a new assessment is coming.
03 — This month
Concrete doors while the paper is still paper.
Only confirmed public items, with how to get in. The EngageNL Churchill Falls questionnaire closed 10 September. No successor energy portal is open.
Tue 29 Sep 2026
PUB — Newfoundland Power 2027 Capital Budget letters of comment
Written comments to the Board. Not a gallery day. Address: Prince Charles Building, 120 Torbay Road, Suite E210, St. John’s. Board Secretary: board@pub.nl.ca / 709-726-1158.
Sláinte, 115 Duckworth Street, St. John’s. Free Eventbrite registration. Framed as members and stakeholders — not labelled members-only. Confirm edge cases with info@miningnl.com.
econext Conference 2026 — Building Our Green Economy
Delta Hotel, 120 New Gower Street, St. John’s. Paid registration. Closest in-province industry conference on energy, mining, and major projects in this window.
Confederation Building East Block. Public galleries (photo ID, visitor card, phones checked) or watch the webcast. Order paper unknown until published — Churchill Falls may recur in Question Period. Calendar sitting days start 26 October.
Delta Hotels St. John’s Conference Centre. Conference registration (newfoundland@cim.org). Site notes a public session; exact time unknown until the program drops.
House gallery rules: assembly.nl.ca/VisitLearn. Dates re-checked 22 September 2026. Contingent PUB oral hearings are not listed until the Board orders them.
04 — Write in
Tell Tom you want the power kept here.
Name, email, optional organisation, optional note. This is a mailing list for people who want firm in-province power used in NL — not a join-our-AI-company form.
05 — Write your MHA
Starter questions. You send them. We don't.
Find your member on the House of Assembly members page (contacts live there — we do not scrape emails onto this site). Mail also reaches MHAs at Confederation Building, P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL A1B 4J6. Copy a starter, put it in your own words, and send it yourself. Open People will not mail MHAs on your behalf.
Transparency before the contracts lock
I am writing as a constituent about the Churchill Falls / Gull Island DCIA.
The House endorsed the framework 21–18 on 17 September 2026. That vote does not create binding power-purchase agreements. Binding definitive agreements are still targeted around 31 December 2026; the DCIA instrument can run to 31 March 2027.
Please press for the long-form text — or a public summary a voter can check — on:
1. How in-province power will be metered and scheduled, year by year.
2. The definition of domestic / in-province load in the contracts.
3. Whether unused retained power defaults to export, and on what notice and price.
4. How much firm power remains available in Labrador for mines and other industry, including any compute load, before Hydro-Québec takes the rest.
I am not asking you to kill the deal. I am asking that Newfoundland and Labrador keep the option to use firm power here, in writing, before the paper hardens.
Recall mechanics in the contract text
I am writing as a constituent about recall of Churchill Falls / Gull Island power for use in Newfoundland and Labrador.
During the special sitting, consultant Jason Chee-Aloy of Power Advisory told the House there could be a three-year notice recall so the province can keep more power at home. That statement is not the same as signed contract language.
Please confirm, in public:
1. Whether a recall right is in the draft definitive agreements.
2. The notice period, the volumes, and who pays.
3. Whether recall can be used for Labrador industry (mining first; other industrial load including compute if the province chooses), or only for a narrower class of load.
If it is not in the text, please say so plainly before year-end.
Mining first, with industrial headroom left
I am writing as a constituent about keeping firm Churchill Falls / Gull Island power in this province.
Public framing is that Newfoundland and Labrador would retain about 2,350 MW from Churchill Falls and Gull Island, plus wind if it is built. That is announcement language, not a signed industrial allocation. Mining and Labrador resources should be first in line. Compute is one possible use of leftover firm power — it is not confirmed as reserved, priced, or queued.
Please ask, before definitive agreements lock:
1. What firm megawatts are actually available in Labrador this decade, on which line, at a published industrial rate.
2. How mines and towns are served first without the unused remainder sliding west by default.
3. Whether industrial uses beyond mining — including compute — are eligible at all, or silently excluded.
Keep the power here. Use it here. Export what we choose to export, not what we forget to keep.
Innu Nation before large Labrador builds
I am writing as a constituent about Churchill Falls / Gull Island.
I am not speaking for Innu Nation. I am asking you, as my MHA, whether the partnership, royalty, and Gull Island tariff path with Innu Nation is settled before this province locks long-form terms for a new plant on Innu land.
By 17–18 September 2026, Innu Nation had urged MHAs not to vote. The Premier said he will meet. That is not a signed partnership.
Please say, in public, before definitive agreements lock:
1. Whether Innu Nation is a party to the long-form Gull Island paper, or still outside it.
2. Whether royalty and tariff terms are better, worse, or merely different from the 2024 memorandum — in words a voter can check.
3. Whether large Labrador construction can honestly proceed while that path is unresolved.
Respect the Nation’s timeline. Do not treat a House endorsement of a framework as consent.
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The House endorsed the Churchill Falls / Gull Island DCIA 21–18. That is not a contract. Keep firm power in NL — mines first. https://openpeople.ai/engage
Keep what we can still keep. Use it on loads that live here.
Mining and Labrador industry first. Compute if — and only if — the province writes it as an eligible use of leftover firm power. Partners own the steel. The public owns the window until the contracts lock.