Cape Breton residents are wondering what the latest carbon pricing announcement will mean for the Donkin mine.
The federal government announced Monday that Ottawa and Nova Scotia have come to terms on carbon pricing, allowing the province to continue burning coal to generate power even after the rest of the country phases it out by 2030.
With the decision though, uncertainty from Donkin residents.
“I'm concerned with how they plan on delivering that product to market and the future of the mine in relation to jobs in the community,” said resident Kevin Saccary.
Bob Burchell, the Canadian representative for the United Mine Workers of America, says he too is concerned about employment.
“There are going to be a lot of jobs lost with the phase out of coal,” said Burchell. “Consumers are going to get hit with the bill.”
Kameron Collieries has been working for the last several years to get the Donkin mine up and running. The mine currently employs 40 people, but the company has said that number will grow to 135 at full production.
Saccary says the company had hoped Nova Scotia Power would buy coal from the Donkin mine to burn at the nearby Lingan Generating Station.
Burchell believes the power prices for home owners will rise.
“Over the last few years they phased out some of the coal power plants, so if that continues our rates are going to go much higher and a lot of people are not going to be able to afford to stay in their homes,” he said.
Burchell believes there's an alternative and money should be invested into developing clean coal technology.
“Even the power companies in the states, they're looking at the benefit of clean coal technology and are investing millions of dollars into it because they know there's an abundance of coal there. It's a cheap economic source of energy and we have a lot of it,” Burchell said.
But residents remain uncertain about how the shift to renewable energy will affect jobs and the future of the Donkin mine.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
