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Author Archives: energyprbe
CEO takes on power
A recent political appointment at one of Ontario’s electricity companies is raising concerns about more trouble ahead following the controversy at Hydro One.
The province recently hired Michael Gourley as CEO of the Ontario Electricity Financial Corp., which manages the $38-billion debt racked up by the old Ontario Hydro.
"Gourley is high-priced help," Tom Adams of Energy Probe said. "This guy is not a B-team player, so he’s an expensive guy."
Ontario Hydro's debt spirals up $700 million
The unfunded debt left by the former Ontario Hydro has increased during the past year, newly released financial statements show.
And one energy critic predicts the special debt reduction charge that consumers are now paying on their hydro bills will have to be increased if there’s to be any hope of paying it off.
The annual report of the Ontario Electricity Financial Corp., or OEFC, which holds the Ontario Hydro debt, shows the unfunded portion of the debt has grown by $700 million since OEFC assumed it in 1999.
S&P sees political intervention for Ontario utilities
The following statement was released by the ratings agency
Ontario's dim electricity policy will shock users soon
The lights were on yesterday in Ontario, and what a luxury that was. When ample juice should have been available – a day too cool for air conditioners, too warm for heaters – the province still had to import electricity because about one-third of the generating capacity was under repair and out of commission. It did so at horrendous cost.
McGuinty promises positive change
Calling the provincial election race in Sault Ste. Marie "neck-and-neck," Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty swooped into the city Monday with just days remaining in the campaign.
He told party faithful at the Marconi Hall that the latest polls indicate the Liberal and NDP "are in a dead heat" locally.
The Liberals have not won the Sault Ste. Marie riding since the 1930s.
U.S. traders angle for our electric wealth
As the tories set the stage for commercialized electricity in Ontario, behind-the-scenes private interests are revving up for the pending power trading frenzy. Giant U.S. power marketers like Enron Canada, whose Houston-based, George W. Bush-connected parent company recently filed for bankruptcy protection south of the border, have been lining up to get a piece of the action. Continue reading
Choices, choices: Is it time to lock in . . . or float?
With most things we buy, the price isn’t much of a moving target. It can vary between one store and another, but once we’ve decided what to buy, the only big decision left is where.
For some products, however, the choice is not as easy. With mortgages and natural gas, for instance, the sellers have given us some additional options – to lock in at a certain rate for years ahead, or take one’s chances with the current rates and hope they don’t go up too much.
Posted in Natural Gas
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Science, diplomacy, and the Montreal Protocol
(June 29, 2009) In January 1985, not long after I took over the international environment portfolio at the State Department, I led a small American delegation to a little-noticed meeting in Geneva. There, the U.S., Canada, and a few like-minded countries tried, and ultimately failed in the face of strong opposition from other governments, to achieve a multilateral agreement to limit use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The event attracted only perfunctory attention in the press, and its unremarkable results occasioned no diplomatic ripples in national capitals. Continue reading
Posted in The Deniers
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Congress Must Quickly Enact Clean Energy Law, House Panel Told
"On this Earth Day, we must state in no uncertain terms that we have a responsibility to our children and their children to curb the carbon emissions from fossil fuels that have begun to change our climate," Energy Secretary Steven Chu today told the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Energy Probe 