 It is significant to note that until 1992, Nova Scotia Power was a crown corporation, and as such treated locally produced coal with preference.During the 1980s the provincial government also modernized the steel mill, however both coal and steel encountered production and financial difficulties in the 1990s and DEVCO and SYSCO both decommissioned their operations by the turn of the century or shortly thereafter.The last underground coal mine on Cape Breton Island closed in November 2001.