John Spears
Toronto Star
August 2, 2002

The current heat wave pushed Ontario’s electricity system to the limit yesterday as the province set a new unofficial record for demand.

As demand soared, industrial customers faced stiff extra charges to cover the cost of imported power – though the true price of imports is masked by the current market system.

Demand for power averaged 25,432 megawatts between 5 and 6 p.m. yesterday, breaking the old mark of 25,330 megawatts set July 3. Figures are sometimes adjusted slightly at a later date.

The extra demand for power used by air conditioners on hot days is roughly equivalent to adding a second City of Toronto to the electricity grid on a normal day.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO), which runs the provincial power grid, has asked householders and businesses to curb unnecessary power use.

The price of power rose strongly early in the afternoon, hitting nearly 40 cents a kilowatt hour at 2 p.m. But it subsided to less than 10 cents by 5 p.m. – despite the fact that demand was building through the afternoon.

The IMO can import power as demand builds, but the imports are expensive.

Industrial customers were paying an extra "uplift" charge of nearly 12 cents a kilowatt hour late yesterday afternoon to cover the cost of the expensive imports.