April Lindgren
CanWest News Service
November 9, 2006

Ontario’s chief conservation officer says electricity consumption is down in the province because citizens are keen to conserve, but skeptics say plant closures in the faltering manufacturing and forestry sectors are a more likely explanation.

Conservation chief Peter Love issued his annual reporter Wednesday that showed overall electricity consumption declined by 1.5 per cent between January and August compared to the same period last year after differences in weather were factored in. Consumption per capita fell by 2.5 per cent over the same period.

"Energy efficiency is happening. We have made a start," said Love.

Citing a complex set of calculations and assumptions, he insisted the province is well on its way to meeting the Liberal government’s pledge to achieve a five per cent 1,350 megawatt reduction in peak demand by 2007.

Love conceded, however, that the government’s goal of cutting projected electricity demand by 6,300 megawatts by 2025 a goal that would mean demand 20 years from now will still be at 25,000 megawatts will be much tougher but still achievable.

"This report is bogus," Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton said. "What we have is the shutdown of dozen of forest product mills which have resulted in a significant drop in electricity consumption.

"I’ve never seen an attempt to spin the loss of 136,000 manufacturing jobs as energy conservation and energy efficiency before. What we’ve seen over the last year and a half has been more an exercise in media spin and less an exercise in energy efficiency or conservation."

Hampton said if the government was serious about conservation, it would copy programs in Manitoba and Quebec where homeowners have access to low-cost loans that they can use to retrofit their homes to make them more energy efficient.

The province’s Independent Electricity Supply Operator has also said lower industrial demand will have an impact on power use.

"Despite the record peak demand set this summer, reduced energy-intensive industrial load has led to lower energy demand in 2006," it noted in its 18-month outlook released in September.

"Annual energy demand is expected to shrink by 0.2 per cent in 2006 before rebounding due to the loss of energy-intensive industrial demand."

Tom Adams, executive director of the watchdog group Energy Probe, also questioned Love’s claims. Peak demand on Aug. 1 topped 27,000 megawatts, he said, noting that is already higher than the peak demand of 26,992 megawatts forecast for 2007.

Adams said his own research suggests that some local distribution utilities are overstating the amount of energy savings their local conservation initiatives have achieved.

He also suggested it is in the government’s interest to have the public believe conservation efforts are underway and working. In addition to fulfilling a Liberal campaign promise, he noted, it will helpful if vigorous conservation efforts are underway when it comes time to justify the need for new, expanded nuclear power plants.

Recent conservation initiatives in Ontario include a new building code with tougher energy efficiency standards that is being phased in, higher electricity prices and special programs such as a fridge bounty program aimed at getting old, inefficient fridges out of service. Local utilities are also cutting cheques for $25 to homeowners who let them install gadgets that allow air conditioners and hot water heaters to be shut off remotely during periods of high demand.

Conservative MPP John Yakbuski said Love’s report selectively used data that made it look like the Liberals were on track toward achieving their conservation goals. In real terms, he noted, electricity consumption is up, not down from 2003 when the Grits came to power.

"Convenient statistics cannot hide the truth that promises have again been broken by this government on the energy file," he said.