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Category Archives: Reforming Ontario’s Electrical Generation Sector
Blackout task force calls for stricter rules
North America needs strict standards for electrical reliability, backed up by stiff penalties for breaking them, says a U.S.-Canadian task force into a huge power blackout last August.
While those standards are largely in place in Ontario, the task force blames the utility industry as a whole for not setting tight, enforceable standards.
The task force released its final report yesterday, and pointed a finger once again at Ohio utility FirstEnergy Corp. for triggering the blackout that turned off the power to 50 million people on Aug. 14.
Ontario power to have prices regulated by government
Ontario Power Generation Inc., the province’s biggest producer of power, will have the price of its hydroelectric and nuclear energy regulated by the provincial government to reduce the volatility in consumers’ monthly bills.
Electricity from Ontario Power’s other energy sources as well power from other producers can be sold on the open market, Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said in a speech in Toronto.
Details lacking in Liberals' energy plans
The Ontario government says it has a plan to stabilize electricity prices for small consumers, but can’t say what the price will be or offer concrete plans on how to generate much-needed energy. Continue reading
New power caps ease taxpayers' burden
New power caps ease taxpayers’ burden by Colin Perkel, Canadian Press
New Niagara tunnel will boost hydro generation
A Niagara Falls generating project that will power the annual electricity needs of an estimated 160,000 Ontario homes has been given a green light by the province as it searches for new energy supply.
The Niagara Tunnel Project, expected to be completed by 2009 and to cost an estimated $600 million, will be one way to help the province deal with its electricity supply challenges, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said in an interview from Niagara Falls.
Public consultation on Bill 100, the Electricity Restructuring Act
The fate of Ontario’s electricity sector is now being determined. The implications of this legislation for our environment and the economy are far-reaching and your participation in the consultation process is vital.
Ontario power supplies up 7 per cent since blackout
Toronto: Almost a year after a massive blackout hit Ontario, the province’s electricity supply has seven per cent more capacity, which may make it better able to weather a similar blow.
Critics say changes the Liberal government has made don’t address the long-standing weaknesses in the province’s power grid, however.
The extra seven per cent of power capacity comes from the reactivation of three nuclear reactors that had been shut down for years, as well as a new gas-fired generating plant.
Testimony on Bill 100
Ontario energy plan: Conserve or pay
Ontario power consumers should prepare for price shocks starting next May to encourage a new "culture of conservation" in the wake of last year’s blackout, Premier Dalton McGuinty warns.
"We all need to find ways to reduce our consumption. Working together, we can ensure Ontario has an electricity supply that is reliable today and sustainable tomorrow," he said this week.
Energy Minister Dwight Duncan is developing an energy strategy, to be unveiled this fall, on how to boost electricity prices to encourage conservation.
Could it happen again?
Sure, if the bizarre series of events that triggered last year’s massive blackout were to be repeated
All Dave Goulding had on his mind about 4 p.m. last Aug. 14 was getting home early.
But as the chief executive of the agency that ties Ontario’s power system together navigated his car along Shuter St. in downtown Toronto, traffic slowed to a crawl as the traffic lights suddenly went dark.
Energy Probe 