06:27 AM EDT, 09/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Emera ( EMRAF ) late on Tuesday said its subsidiaries NSP Maritime Link (NSPML) and Nova Scotia Power (NSPI) finalized an agreement with the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia for a $500 million federal loan guarantee intended to provide cost relief to the province's electricity customers.

Natural Resources Canada is providing a federal loan guarantee to support a new debt issuance by the Maritime Link Financing Trust. Proceeds will be advanced to NSPI and will be applied in full against its current unrecovered fuel and purchase power balance.

The financial assistance will help manage the unrecovered cost of the replacement energy that was required during several years of delay in the Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity project in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The term and repayment mechanism of the debt to be issued under the loan guarantee is expected to align with the existing Maritime Link bond program, over a 28-year period.

The transactions are subject to conditions including regulatory approval by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. NSPI and NSPML will file applications related to the loan guarantee on Wednesday.