Newfoundland Power Inc. is an
electric utility
An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...
owned by
Fortis Inc.
Fortis Inc. is a St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador-based international diversified electric utility holding company. It operates in Canada, the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. In 2015, it earned .
Fortis was formed in 198 ...
which is the primary retailer of electric power in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...
. The company was formed by the
Royal Securities Corporation
Royal Securities Corporation Limited was a stock brokerage firm founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in early 1903 by John F. Stairs, its first president. The company was the first brokerage firm to be opened east of Montreal, Quebec, the then ...
of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
in 1924 as the Newfoundland Light & Power Company.
In the year of its incorporation it purchased the assets of the
St. John's Light and Power Company which had been formed originally by
Robert Gillespie Reid
Sir Robert Gillespie Reid (12 October 1842 – 3 June 1908) was a Scottish railway contractor most famous for building large railway bridges in Canada and the United States. Founder of Reid Newfoundland Company, from 1889 until his death ...
as the
St. John's Street Railway Company in 1896. Those assets included Newfoundland and Labrador's first hydro electric generating station at
Petty Harbour,
Petty Harbour Hydro Electric Generating Station.
After 1924 Newfoundland Light & Power Company became a subsidiary of the International Power Company, and it remained a subsidiary until 1949, when the parent company sold its shares in it to the general public.
The Newfoundland Light & Power Company supplied the general needs of the St. John's urban area and operated the city's electrical street car system. In 1948 the street railway was disbanded and the company became solely an electric company.
Newfoundland Power operates 23 hydro generating plants, three diesel plants and three gas turbine facilities for a total installed capacity of 139.4 MW.
Historical highlights
* 1926 the company increased the generating capacity of the
Petty Harbour Generating Station
The Petty Harbour Hydro Electric Generating Station is a hydroelectric generating station in Petty Harbour–Maddox Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was constructed in 1898 and it was the first hydroelectric generating station in Newfoundland ...
* 1931 completed a 3 MW hydro electric generating station at
Pierre's Brook
* 1931 laid two 13 kW cables across the
Bell Island tickle
Tickling is the act of touching a part of a body in a way that causes involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English ''tikelen'', perhaps frequentative of ''ticken'', to touch lightly.
In 1897, psychol ...
in
Conception Bay to supply the iron ore mines on Bell Island
* 1951 purchased from
Bowater's Newfoundland Pulp and Paper Mills and
Bay of Islands Light and Power Company the distribution systems in
Corner Brook and
Deer Lake.
* 1956 obtained from the
Anglo Newfoundland Development Company
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
the distribution system in
Grand Falls,
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
Bishops Falls and
Botwood
Botwood is a town in north-central Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in Census Division 6. It is located on the west shore of the Bay of Exploits on a natural deep water harbour used by cargo ships and seaplanes throughout the town ...
.
* 1958 completed a 12.5 MW hydro electric generating station at
Rattling Brook.
* 1958 obtained from the
Department of Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
the distribution system in
Gander.
* 1962 converted the Grand Falls, Windsor, Bishop's Falls and Botwood distribution systems from
50 cycles (50 Hz voltage signal) to the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n standard of
60 cycles
''60 Cycles'' is a 1965 Canadian short from the National Film Board of Canada directed and photographed by Jean-Claude Labrecque.
Synopsis
''60 Cycles'' is a film about the 11th St-Laurent long-distance bicycle race covering 2,400 kilometres of ...
.
* 1966
Union Electric Light and Power Company became part of the Newfoundland Light and Power Company.
* 1966 the company had eleven generating plants with an installed capacity of 95 MW.
* 1970 the company sold over the one billion kW·h (1
TW·h).
* 1981 the company had twenty-one hydro stations, three
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
s, seven
diesel generating plants and one
thermal power station
A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a stea ...
for a total installed capacity of 241 MW.
* 1987 shareholders of Newfoundland Light & Power Co. form
Fortis Inc.
Fortis Inc. is a St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador-based international diversified electric utility holding company. It operates in Canada, the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. In 2015, it earned .
Fortis was formed in 198 ...
as a holding company with 100% ownership of the regulated electrical utility.
* 1990 Newfoundland Light & Power Co. changes its corporate name to Newfoundland Power.
* 1998 the company changed its legal name from Newfoundland Light & Power Co. to Newfoundland Power Inc.
See also
*
Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United ...
*
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United ...
References
[ ]
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Electric power companies of Canada
Electric power transmission system operators in Canada
Energy in Newfoundland and Labrador
Fortis Inc.
Companies based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Energy companies established in 1924
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1924
1924 establishments in Newfoundland