Category Archives: Reforming Ontario’s Electrical Generation Sector

Ontario to promote clean power

The Ontario government is preparing to unveil a program next month that would encourage homeowners, farmers, schools and community co-ops to set up renewable energy systems by letting them sell "clean" power to the grid at a fixed premium.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, in an interview with the Star, said the program would be limited to smaller projects, typically less than 10 megawatts, but over time could add thousands of megawatts of renewable power to a strained provincial grid being weaned from coal.

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Utility out $5.2M in bungled operation

Enwin Powerlines paid $5.2 million too much for a new computerized billing system that it bought for the deregulated electricity market, an accounting audit shows.

Auditors also said Enwin mismanaged the computer project with poor planning and a lack of oversight over private contractors hired to design and program the system. Managers bungled the project by not making sure the system was delivered as ordered and on time, documents said.

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Ontario's energy crunch

Consumers in Ontario should brace for a double whammy of higher electricity and natural gas bills as a hot summer combined with energy shortages begin to hit home.

Consumers are now paying artificially low prices for electricity and natural gas. But that is about to change.

Ontario’s energy regulator announced yesterday that the shortfall between what the province is paying to buy electricity on the open market and what it charges consumers doubled to $228.8-million at the end of August from $113.5-million at the end of July.

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Atlantic coal plant dirtiest, green group says

A New Brunswick coal-fired power plant is the dirtiest power generator of its kind in North America, says a national energy and environmental research group.

The report by Energy Probe says New Brunswick Power’s Grand Lake station has the worst acid gas pollution rate among more than 400 coal plants on the continent.

The station has been operating since 1931.

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Duncan won't listen to 'Neanderthals'

Ontario has no plans to listen to "Neanderthals" who want the province to keep its coal-burning power plants operating, even if that’s what a report being prepared for the government recommends, says Energy Minister Dwight Duncan.

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Ontarians need answers on future of power supply

It’s hard to believe an evironmental group would advocate the continued operation of coal-fired power generating units, but that’s exactly what’s happening here in Ontario.

When elected, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government promised to close all the province’s coal-fired plants in a bid to reduce air pollution.

The idea was a popular one with many voters given that these stations are frequently criticized as being heavy polluters.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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