The federal government in Ottawa says that the Trans Mountain pipeline has earned net income of $29 million from operating revenues of $728 million in the 19 months since it was purchased.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the oil conduit running from Edmonton to Vancouver had operating expenses of $366 million since it was purchased in the fall of 2018 from Kinder Morgan Canada for $4.4 billion.
In a report last November, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis charged that Trans Mountain is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden direct and indirect federal and provincial government subsidies. The Department of Finance, however, responded that the government does not consider any part of its investment in the pipeline to be a subsidy.
In February, Trans Mountain announced a revised construction cost estimate for its controversial expansion project, bumping it up by 70% from $7.4 billion to $12.6 billion.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer now estimates a 0.25% increase in interest would have a $500-million impact on the value of the project, a $600-million increase in construction costs would have a $200-million impact and the impact of a one-year delay plus a $600-million cost increase would be $900 million.
