[4] A $6.2 billion deal between Newfoundland and Labrador's Nalcor Energy and Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Emera to develop the project was announced in November 2010.

[10][11] Emera received approval to proceed with the Maritime Link from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board in 2013.

[18] Power is transmitted from Stephenville on Newfoundland to Nova Scotia via a 200 kV 180 km sub-sea line to Point Aconi on Cape Breton Island with a capacity of 500 MW.

Emera hopes to sell surplus power via a proposed 563 km underwater transmission line from New Brunswick to Massachusetts.

[20] In late 2006, Nalcor registered the generation components of the Lower Churchill Project, including both Gull Island and Muskrat Falls, for environmental assessment with the provincial and federal governments.

Negotiations between the Innu Nation and the provincial government began in 2006, resulting in the New Dawn (Tshash Petapen) Agreement, finalized in 2011.

[40] In the inquiry report, Commissioner Richard LeBlanc concluded the government failed its duty to residents by predetermining that the megaproject would proceed no matter what.

[42][43] The government of Quebec and Bloc Québécois Members of Parliament protested against this subsidy, which they claimed provided unfair competition to their own Hydro Québec power company.

[46] In September 2024, the federal government provided a $500 million bailout for Nova Scotia Power to avoid a nearly 20% rate raises over the next few years due to issues with reliable transmission from the project.

In the five years since it went online, Muskrat Falls has had issues with low production and software issues affecting the transmission to Newfoundland, forcing Nova Scotia Power to buy electricity from more expensive sources even though the undersea connection to Nova Scotia had without delays or cost overruns.