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Author Archives: energyprbe
Changes won't delay provincial finance statement
Ontario’s fall economic statement won’t be delayed, the province’s new finance minister said yesterday while acknowledging he’s got plenty to be briefed about in his new role.
"I have a lot to learn . . . but you know what? Onward and upward for us," Dwight Duncan told reporters when asked about his new position.
"It’s not under the best circumstances, but here we are."
Duncan was promoted to the critical finance portfolio after the sudden resignation Tuesday of Greg Sorbara.
Nuclear vs. coal power
Editorial: Among the promises with which Dalton McGuinty swept into the premier’s office in 2003, his plan to eliminate smog-producing coal-generated electricity by 2007 stood out as particularly ambitious. Ontario was already staring at a future supply shortage and prices for that tenuous supply continue to be artificially suppressed by provincial subsidies. Where on Earth would McGuinty find a new energy supply cheaply and quickly?
Local fears short-circuit electric upgrades
Ontario’s aging electrical power system, already precariously short of generation capacity, faces another problem – local residents who don’t want power plants or transmission lines in their neighbourhoods.
In Toronto, Mississauga, Newmarket and Collingwood, local residents backed by groups such as Stop Transmission Lines Over People (STOP) have caused municipalities to rethink support for new electrical facilities and developers to cancel projects.
Numbers missing in hydro deal: watchdog
The director of public utility watchdog Energy Probe says the idea of moving surplus Manitoba electricity to the power-hungry Ontario market is potentially a great idea, although there are some unanswered questions.
Industry analyst Tom Adams says the deal could work well for both provinces – but he is puzzled by one question: why the governments of Ontario and Manitoba didn’t tell their citizens what kind of deal they’re getting.
City's windfall may hike electricity cost
Toronto has plugged a $60 million hole in its 2005 budget by selling the city’s street lights and poles to Toronto Hydro – but electricity rates could increase as a result.
The city found some much-needed cash last spring during its budget deliberations when it hit on the idea of selling city-owned lights and poles to Toronto Hydro, which is owned by the city.
Putting in 'smart' electricity meters to cost $1B
Ontario’s 4.5 million electricity meters will be replaced by so-called "smart" meters by 2010 at a cost of $1 billion to hydro consumers, a key part of the power-starved province’s strategy to convince people to conserve electricity.
Advocates of energy conservation said they like the plan, but admonished the government for waiting more than two years to take its initial tentative steps towards conservation.
Coal comes clean
Once a dirty, low-tech energy source, the coal industry is reinventing itself, thanks to a scientific and engineering revolution that is sweeping the world. A new generation of coal plants, cleaner than most gas-fired plants, is now in operation in the United States, Japan and Europe, with even cleaner plants under development.
Power utilities looking for some juice from their customers
| Halifax: Nova Scotia farmer Mark McCormick loves watching his power meter racking up credits for kilowatts, as the windmill near his dairy barn sends power back onto the utility’s power grid. |
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| The McGuinty government is jeopardizing the province’s energy security by refusing to study new, clean coal technologies, says the executive director of Energy Probe. |
Saskatchewan ads prod Ottawa on energy
Regina: Saskatchewan is moving forward with a pointed advertising campaign it hopes will shake an energy accord loose from a federal government that could be at the polls in a matter of months.
Premier Lorne Calvert said this week he was outraged that his province and Ottawa still have not reached an energy deal when similar arrangements were signed with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia months ago.
Energy Probe 