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Getting Zapped: Ontario electricity prices increasing faster than anywhere else
Read Our Report On Wind Subsidies in Ontario
Category Archives: Reforming Ontario’s Electrical Generation Sector
Report warns about electricity crunch
Canada has enough electricity to meet demand for the time being, but even power-rich Quebec and British Columbia face potential problems down the road, Toronto-Dominion Bank says.
In fact, like most other regions across the country, Quebec and B.C. have already experienced a deterioration in supply-demand positions in recent years as shown by a combination of declining power exports, rising imports and dropping reserve margins, TD said yesterday in a report on electricity in Canada.
New hydro sites approved
Ontario has opened 18 potential hydroelectric sites for bids from companies that want to develop them, says Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay.
If developed, the sites should yield an additional 200 to 300 megawatts of total generating capacity, most of it in Northern Ontario, Ramsay said.
Ontario is desperately searching for ways to generate more power, as consumption has been rising at a rate of about 1.5 per cent a year while the province’s fleet of generators is showing its age.
Aging power lines are a danger to public, Energy Probe warns
Ontario’s electricity transmission wires are more than half a century old and "appear to present a danger to public safety," says a report prepared by watchdog group Energy Probe.
"There is now a significant risk of prolonged customer blackouts in the event of severe weather," it warns.
Power bills rise $3-$4 April 1, more on way
It’s not an April Fool’s joke – starting April 1, the average homeowner will be charged about $3 to $4 a month more for electricity. The rate increase was calculated by the Ontario Energy Board. The energy board announced Monday that, as of April, householders will pay five cents a kilowatt hour for the first 750 kilowatt hours of power they use each month, and 5.8 cents for all other power.
Residential electricity rates jump today
Toronto: Flicking on the light switch in Ontario is going to cost more starting today, when electricity rates for residential users rise as much as 10 per cent. Consumers should expect prices to continue going up, said Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe.
"That’s quite certain," Adams said. "The only uncertainty is how high will it go."
Downed reactors spark power crunch
A series of breakdowns at Bruce Power’s nuclear reactors contributed to a power emergency yesterday that forced officials to reduce voltage across the system and to import emergency power.
Critics said the outages show the power grid is fragile, but Energy Minister Dwight Duncan dismissed the fears.
Ontario to boost power supply with natural-gas plants
Ontario’s government approved plans to build two natural-gas plants worth at least C$869 million ($702 million) to increase its power supply, which may face shortages as the province closes coal plants.
Calpine Corp. and Mitsui & Co. will build a 1,005-megawatt plant and St. Clair Power, a partnership between Invenergy LLC and Stark Investments, will build a 570-megawatt plant, the Energy Ministry said in a statement. Both will be near Sarnia, Ontario, and will replace the area’s coal-fired generator, which will close within two years.
A coal disaster
Ontario begins to phase out coal power on Saturday, starting with the closure of the Lakeview coal-fired generating station west of Toronto. Inefficient and heavily polluting following decades of neglect by its previous owner, Ontario Hydro, Lakeview’s retirement will allow people downwind of it to breathe easier.
Province taps into winds of opportunity
Ontario is late in harvesting the wind. With only 14 megawatts of wind-generated electricity in operation, Ontario lags well behind several Canadian provinces, as well as the United States and Germany. Continue reading
Ontario's McGuinty breaks vow, delays plant closing
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty pushed back plans to close the last of the province’s coal-fired power plants until 2009, breaking a campaign pledge that helped get him elected two years ago.
Keeping the Nanticoke plant running two years longer than promised is necessary to ensure the province doesn’t run out of power while it develops alternative energy sources, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said today at a Toronto news conference.
"Maintaining reliability is the first principle of our plan," he said.
Energy Probe 