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Author Archives: energyprbe
New power meters let users cash in
Hamilton will move one step closer to curbing soaring energy consumption today with the launch of a new billing pilot project that promises to change how customers use – and pay for – electricity.
Horizon Utilities will begin installing time-of-use meters in several Hamilton-area neighbourhoods this morning that will eventually reward customers for using power at low-peak times and penalize those guzzling electricity during high-demand hours.
The new "smart meters" will replace existing meters in 7,500 homes by the end of October.
Guelph Hydro drops its retail enterprise
Guelph Hydro Inc. announced yesterday it would wind down operations at Selectpower, one of its subsidiaries, this year.
Board chair Paul Truex said the retailer wasn’t profitable and a turnaround wasn’t coming. "We’re simply phasing out of these businesses because we’re not making money at it," he said.
Selectpower was a power retailer, selling wind power, air conditioning units, hot water heaters and geothermal systems. It was created in 2000, following the deregulation of Ontario’s electricity market in late 1998.
Areva (who?) wants to be household name
It’s the world’s biggest nuclear power company, and a major player in Canada’s electrical distribution, nuclear maintenance and uranium mining business, but Areva Group’s name is no household word in this country.
The French nuclear giant wants to change that, and it hopes a higher profile will help it gain a huge breakthrough in Canada: the sale of a new nuclear reactor for Ontario’s power grid.
Smart meters 'not-so-smart idea' for residential users?
The Ontario government may be right on schedule with its goal to hook up 800,000 homes with so-called smart meters, but a local consumer advocacy group doubts if the device will be practical for residential users.
Premier Dalton McGuinty had earlier charged the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) with overseeing deployment of smart electricity meters in 800,000 homes in the province by the end 2007. The deployment is supposed to cover the whole of Ontario by 2010.
Ont. power rates drop slightly
The cost of electricity for the average Ontario household will fall by $6.60 to $55 per month beginning in November, but that’s still more than consumers were paying last winter.
Hydro costs expected to be lower this winter
Warming up by the electric heater will cost you a little less this winter, but don’t get too cosy.
Residential electricity consumers who aren’t on fixed-price plans will see rates fall nearly 6 per cent next month to reflect the lower cost of supplying power and a milder summer, according to the Ontario Energy Board.
The reduction means a saving of $6.60 for average consumers, based on a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Delivery charges are unaffected.
Re-wiring Ontario
A natural gas plant here. New nuclear reactors there. Massive wind farms in northern Ontario. Surplus hydroelectric power from projects in Manitoba and Labrador.
Who says Ontario is facing an electricity shortage?
On top of conservation efforts aimed at reducing how much electricity we all consume, the reality is there are plenty of opportunities – some cleaner than others – to generate the power this province needs over the next two decades. Even, it should be noted, with the shutdown of all coal-fired plants.
Skeptics incensed about 'bogus' Ontario energy report
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.
Coal plant extensions harm public health: Energy Probe
An energy watchdog is criticizing Ontario for pushing back the closing dates for the province’s coal-fired power-generation plants, saying political manoeuvring is harming the public’s health.
The criticism comes in response to news that the province is unlikely to close coal-fired plants until 2014, seven years past the original closing date promised by the Ontario Liberals.
Cameco anticipates boom in uranium demand from China
Cameco Corp. says it is laying the groundwork for an expected boom in uranium demand from China, as the Chinese and Canadian governments pursue talks that would facilitate Canadian exports to the nuclear weapons state.
But Canada is lagging Australia, its main competitor in the uranium exporting business, which signed a deal earlier this year with its Asian neighbour that will allow for exports and for Chinese investment in uranium mining there.
Energy Probe 