PEI-NB Cable Interconnection Upgrade Project – VOLUME 1 Project Description Job No. 121811475 Prepared for: Maritime Electric Company, Limited Prepared by: Stantec Consulting Ltd. 165 Maple Hills Avenue Charlottetown PE C1C 1N9 September 30, 2015 PEI-NB CABLE INTERCONNECTION UPGRADE PROJECT – VOLUME 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... III ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................. VII 1.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1.1 1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT ..................................................................................................... 1.1 1.2 PROPONENT INFORMATION...................................................................................................... 1.2 1.3 NEED FOR THE PROJECT ............................................................................................................ 1.5 1.4 ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT ............................................................... 1.6 1.5 PURPOSE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE DOCUMENT ............................................................. 1.6 1.6 PROPERTY OWNERSHIP .............................................................................................................. 1.7 1.7 FUNDING ..................................................................................................................................... 1.7 1.8 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 1.7 1.8.1 Provincial Jurisdiction .............................................................................................. 1.7 1.8.2 Federal Jurisdiction .................................................................................................. 1.8 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................... 2.1 2.1 PROJECT LOCATION .................................................................................................................. 2.1 2.2 DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR PROJECT INFRASTRUCTURE ........................................................... 2.2 2.2.1 Transmission Lines ..................................................................................................... 2.2 2.2.2 Cable Termination Sites .......................................................................................... 2.2 2.2.3 Cable Landfall Sites ................................................................................................. 2.3 2.2.4 Twin Submarine Cables .......................................................................................... 2.3 2.2.5 Substation Upgrades ............................................................................................... 2.3 2.3 PROJECT ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................................ 2.4 2.3.1 Alternatives to the Project ...................................................................................... 2.4 2.3.2 Alternative Project Methods .................................................................................. 2.4 2.4 DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT PHASES AND ACTIVITIES .............................................................. 2.6 2.4.1 Land-Based Infrastructure Construction - PEI and NB ........................................ 2.9 2.4.2 Land-Based Infrastructure Operation – PEI and NB .......................................... 2.17 2.4.3 Land-Based Infrastructure Decommissioning and Abandonment – PEI and NB .................................................................................................................... 2.20 2.4.4 Marine-Based Infrastructure Construction - Northumberland Strait ............... 2.22 2.4.5 Marine-Based Infrastructure Operation - Northumberland Strait ................... 2.25 2.4.6 Marine-Based Infrastructure Decommissioning and Abandonment - Northumberland Strait........................................................................................... 2.25 2.5 PROJECT SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................. 2.26 2.6 ACCIDENTS, MALFUNCTIONS, AND UNPLANNED EVENTS ................................................... 2.27 2.6.1 Identification of Accidents, Malfunctions, and Unplanned Events ................ 2.27 3.0 EIA METHODS, CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT, AND SCOPING ................................. 3.1 3.1 EIA METHODS .............................................................................................................................. 3.1 3.2 CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT ....................................................................................... 3.2 3.2.1 Public ......................................................................................................................... 3.3 3.2.2 Stakeholders ............................................................................................................. 3.4 i PEI-NB CABLE INTERCONNECTION UPGRADE PROJECT – VOLUME 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3.2.3 Aboriginal Rights Holders ...................................................................................... 3.10 3.2.4 Summary of Consultation Activities to Date ...................................................... 3.13 3.2.5 Future Consultation and Engagement ............................................................... 3.14 3.3 SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................... 3.14 3.3.1 Scope of Project .................................................................................................... 3.15 3.3.2 Factors to be Considered .................................................................................... 3.15 3.3.3 Scope of Factors to be Considered ................................................................... 3.15 3.3.4 Selection of Valued Components ...................................................................... 3.17 4.0 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 4.1 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Description of Project Phases, Activities and Physical Works .................................. 2.6 Table 2.2 Key Project Timelines ................................................................................................... 2.26 Table 3.1 Summary of Public Consultation in PEI and Key Issues Raised to Date ................. 3.4 Table 3.2 Summary of Public Consultation in NB and Key Issues Raised to Date .................. 3.4 Table 3.3 Identification of Key Stakeholders by Region ............................................................ 3.5 Table 3.4 Summary of Key Issues Raised by Stakeholders During Pre-consultation in PEI ..................................................................................................................................... 3.6 Table 3.5 Summary of Key Issues Raised by Stakeholders in NB .............................................. 3.7 Table 3.6 Summary of Key Issues Raised by Federal Stakeholders .......................................... 3.9 Table 3.7 Identification of Aboriginal Rights Holders and Associated Government Departments by Region ............................................................................................. 3.10 Table 3.8 Summary of Key Issues Raised by Aboriginal Rights Holders in PEI ....................... 3.11 Table 3.9 Summary of Key Issues Raised by Aboriginal Rights Holders in NB ....................... 3.12 Table 3.10 Selected Valued Components ................................................................................. 3.18 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 General Project Overview ............................................................................................ 1.3 ii PEI-NB CABLE INTERCONNECTION UPGRADE PROJECT – VOLUME 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION Executive Summary PEI Energy Corporation (PEIEC), with Maritime Electric Company, Limited (MECL) acting as the construction agent, is proposing to complete a cable interconnection upgrade within the Northumberland Strait, between the provinces of Prince Edward Island (PEI) and New Brunswick (NB). The intent of the proposed PEI-NB Cable Interconnection Project (“the Project”) is to meet the growing demand for electricity on PEI and supplement aging infrastructure. Project activities will be carried out over a 16 month period in three distinct geographic regions; PEI, NB and in the Northumberland Strait. Project activities within the Northumberland Strait include the laying of two submarine cables between landfall locations in Cape Tormentine, NB, and Borden-Carleton, PEI. Project activities in PEI consist of the expansion of the existing substation in Borden-Carleton and construction of a cable landfall site. Project activities in NB consist of upgrades to the existing substation in Memramcook, construction of a landfall site and cable termination site in Cape Tormentine and the installation of overhead transmission lines between the cable termination site in Cape Tormentine and the substation in Memramcook. To better facilitate review, this document is divided into