-
Support our campaign
to stop disastrous global
warming policies!
Getting Zapped: Ontario electricity prices increasing faster than anywhere else
Read Our Report On Wind Subsidies in Ontario
Author Archives: energyprbe
Bruce a to start ahead of schedule: consortium
The Bruce Power consortium, made up of British Energy PLC and Cameco Corp., says it will be able to restart two of the idle units at its Bruce A nuclear station ahead of schedule, which will boost profit and provide Ontarians with much-needed power before next summer.
Reactor restart plan sparks safety fears
Bruce Power says it will restart a reactor at the mothballed Bruce A nuclear generating station as early as next April, ending a five-year shutdown caused by safety problems and poor operating performance.
But the reopening will likely draw renewed attention to safety concerns at the plant, where construction began in 1970. The plant is considered relatively old by nuclear-industry standards.
Power demand hits record high
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.
Bruce Power moves up restart of Ontario nukes
NEW YORK — Bruce Power said it expects to restart two 750 megawatt units at its Bruce A nuclear power station in time to meet next summer’s peak electricity demand, several months ahead of its earlier schedule. Company officials said the earlier restart was due to an accelerated hearing schedule with Canadian energy regulators.
"We understand our case will have to be made at the hearings to justify our restart . . . (but we have) high confidence for a successful outcome," Bruce Power Chief Executive Duncan Hawthorne said in a statement this week.
Regulator warns Bruce Power
Canada’s nuclear regulator has ordered the operator of Ontario’s Bruce nuclear station to provide a guarantee by next week that it can meet its financial obligations or the reactors could be shut down.
The future of Bruce Power LP, which operates eight reactors at the station, has been thrown into question as financial problems mount for the company’s majority owner, British Energy PLC.
Bruce Power owner in trouble
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is seeking assurances from the financially troubled majority owner of Bruce Power that it can make good on guarantees of its ability to operate the nuclear plant safely.
British Energy PLC, which owns an 82.4 per cent stake in Bruce Power, announced yesterday that it is seeking a bail-out from the British government.
Bruce woes threaten power drop
British Energy PLC’s financial problems could cause electricity shortages in Ontario next year and drive up power prices for consumers, analysts warn.
British Energy owns 82.4 per cent of Bruce Power LP, which runs eight nuclear reactors in Ontario. The British utility has said it faces insolvency if it does not receive a bailout from the British government.
Currently four of Bruce Power’s reactors are operating and two more are slated to come into service next summer. Restarting those two reactors is expected to cost $400-million.
Bruce reactors will return to service on time, Ontario says
Ontario Energy Minister John Baird says he’s seen no signs that the financial trouble of Bruce Power’s majority owner will delay plans to bring two nuclear reactors back into service next year.
In an interview from Ottawa yesterday, Baird said he’s spoken with Bruce Power’s chief executive, Duncan Hawthorne, twice in the past two weeks.
Bruce Power set to address British Energy concerns
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 11 (Reuters) — The chief executive of Ontario’s Bruce Power nuclear partnership, which is majority owned by struggling British Energy Plc, will address concerns about the generator’s financial viability at a hearing in Ottawa on Thursday, an official with the group said.
Power to the people
Rooftop power plants are sprouting in California, a state that has suffered from volatile power costs and electricity shortages, and before the end of the year, they’ll be sprouting in New York and New Jersey. By the end of next year, they may have come to electricity-challenged Ontario, where another botched deregulation is leading to wildly fluctuating prices, brownouts and threats of California-style rolling blackouts.
Energy Probe 