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Getting Zapped: Ontario electricity prices increasing faster than anywhere else
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Category Archives: Reforming Ontario’s Electrical Generation Sector
Ontario Hydro bound for bankruptcy — again
Two weeks ago, and four months late, Ontario Electricity Financial Corp. (OEFC) — the bailout agency for the old Ontario Hydro — released its first annual report. Despite government pledges to restore financial responsibility to the revamped power sector, the flood of red ink pouring from Ontario’s electricity system is rising. Although OEFC’s mandate is to service and retire the former Ontario Hydro’s liabilities, the liabilities are mushrooming. The new Hydro is running amok, and taxpayers are worse off by more than $1-billion.
Missed hydro deadlines spark fears of 'chaos'
Utilities, major electricity users fail to file plans
More questions arose yesterday about how people and businesses in Ontario will buy electricity when some major players showed they’re not ready for the new power market in the province.
Some utilities and big power users failed to file plans by provincial deadlines to prepare for the new, competitive electricity market.
Deregulation electrifying Ontario
Richest market: Alberta, California act as models of what not to do
Chaos in Alberta and a possible taxpayer revolt in California are instructive examples in how not to deregulate a multi-billion-dollar industry, but participants in Ontario’s soon-to-be competitive electrical sector are split over whether the lessons are being learned as the province opens up Canada’s largest and richest market.
Re: 'Ontario's budget balancing act'
This article contains a number of factual errors and, as a result of these errors, it makes several baseless allegations.
The authors’ allegation that rolling the OEFC loss into the province’s financial statements would have resulted in a $47 million deficit for the year is not based on generally accepted accounting principles. Rather, it appears to be the result of the authors of the article cobbling together numbers to suit their purposes.
Cities cash in on power deregulation
"Bills higher in Toronto and Mississauga, but it’s hard to see benefit for consumers."
Consumers in two of Ontario’s biggest cities are starting to get a look at what electricity deregulation means for their power bills.
But it isn’t easy to see the full picture.
On the surface, it does not look so bad. Residential electricity rates in Toronto went up about 3 per cent as of Dec. 1, while those in Mississauga were up 2.6 per cent, effective Dec. 15. Similar hikes are pending over the next two years.
Canada wary of pitfalls of deregulation
It was not long ago that California was held up as a model for electricity deregulation in Canada. Now, the state’s power woes have deepened Canada’s winter chill as the provinces of Alberta and Ontario watch California’s struggle to keep its electricity utilities from bankruptcy.
The two Canadian provinces are in the process of adopting competitive electricity markets. But critics are now questioning the future of deregulation amid growing alarm over Californian power shortages and the poor health of the state’s utilities.
Heavy hydro users seek continued rate deal
Several highly profitable companies, including Imperial Oil and Dofasco, are among the businesses receiving subsidized electricity rates from Ontario Power Generation, according to regulatory filings by the companies.
Other businesses that have been granted special low-cost electricity from the provincially owned utility include energy giant Amoco, forest products companies Kimberly- Clark and Bowater, and chemical producer CXY Chemicals.
Will California's power struggle come to Canada?
TORONTO–With California struggling to avoid blackouts because of a severe shortage of electricity, critics say Ontario is in danger of making the same mistake.
The problem: deregulation.
In 1996, California introduced legislation some thought would become a model for other parts of North America.
The law allowed companies to sell power on the open market, with some of them making profits in the first few years.
Electricity deregulation
Tom Adams, Executive Director of Energy Probe will be discussing the pros and cons of deregulating electricity with other guests, and asking questions like: Should Ontario Hydro be resurrected, or was it a feudal fiefdom leading us to California-style blackouts? Whatever happened to conservation anyway? Can our power supplies keep up with the high-tech cyper-world driving our economy? What’s the future of energy in Canada and how will this impact Canadians, the economy and the environment?
Why deregulate?
While electricity deregulation has proved a disaster in California, it has been a shining success in Europe
Beginning in Britain in 1990, the trend spread through Scandinavia and then to other European Union countries such as Germany and Spain, all seeking lower electricity prices in a more competitive environment. Parts of Australia have also deregulated their electricity systems, and prices have fallen as a result.
Energy Probe 