Lee Greenberg
National Post
June 28, 2005

Toronto: Energy officials urged Ontarians to reduce demand for electricity from the record highs set yesterday, as the province imported costly U.S. power and rotating blackouts were required to ease the pressure on the energy grid.

"Any increase in demand could create shortfalls of electricity and require proactive actions such as emergency purchases from other jurisdictions or voltage reduction on the Ontario system," the Independent Electricity System Operator said in a statement last night.

Demand for electricity in Ontario reached 26,157 MW at 6 p.m. last night, its highest level in history. The province’s fleet of coal, nuclear, gas and hydroelectric generators could only produce 25,087 MW.

Ottawa Hydro was forced to implement rotating blackouts from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to deal with a surge in demand, leaving at times 7,300 homes in Ottawa without power.

People watched air conditioners, fans and stoves shut down for 15 minutes every half hour for more than 90 minutes.

"The demand for electricity [today] is expected to reach or exceed those record levels," said the IESO, which manages the province’s electricity supply, and asked consumers to limit energy consumption between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. by turning off non-essential lights and avoiding the use of appliances such as laundry machines and dishwashers.

Industry observer Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, said yesterday’s historic numbers show Ontario’s electricity system is being pushed to the brink of disaster.

The power crunch came as a strike by Hydro One workers threatened to strain the system further by preventing power-plant workers from doing their jobs.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did not rule out the possibility of back-to-work legislation if it was necessary to protect the province’s electricity supply.

"I would ask [Hydro One workers] to … act responsibly, to not jeopardize the safety and quality of life and economic viability that Ontarians rely upon when they have to have access to an uninterrupted supply of electricity," Mr. McGuinty said.

Pickets with the Society of Energy Professionals have lately targeted provincial plants, owned by Ontario Power Generation, in an attempt to draw attention to their cause. On Friday, they were responsible for shutting six of eight units at the Nanticoke generating station on the north shores of Lake Erie.

On Monday, the union moved its protests to the Lambton (Sarnia) and Lennox (Kingston) generating stations, forcing OPG to use a helicopter to shuttle workers in and out of the two stations.

Worried that a larger workforce would make a similar contingency plan impossible at Darlington and Pickering, two of OPG’s nuclear facilities, the massive utility rented hundreds of cots and set up makeshift dormitories there.

"With the energy professionals, we have a group that is knowledgeable and apparently motivated to impair the system. And that makes a bad situation worse," said Tom Adams.

Union spokesman Brian Robinson said the union has no plans to change its strategy. It was in court yesterday fighting OPG’s attempt to secure an injunction on pickets at Nanticoke. A decision on the injunction is expected today.

"It had an impact," Mr. Robinson said of Friday’s action. "We don’t expect the public to support everything we do. But we would think the public will support what we’re fighting for."