Premier Kathleen Wynne's first 6 months in office was characterized by an acceleration in the activities she feigns concern over so well - more wind turbine projects than ever before are being approved and another suburban seat has been bought (this one with a subway - they'd already cancelled the possibility of the wind turbines off the bluffs to protect their Scarborough seats prior to the last election).
Meanwhile, the cancelled/relocated gas plant scandals continue.
The government response has been to force the energy bureaucracy into a summer of assigned 'conversation' with the small subset of Ontarians deigning to converse with it.
The Premier would find more conversational partners, if she cares to find them, by actually doing something to halt an expensive, backroom-born, opaque, emission generating, electricity ratepayer-punishing, decision from the McGuinty era.
Brad Duguid (pronounced "do good") was the minister that announced the Samsung deal.
Duguid was a central figure in many of the poor decisions that have the current government in constant crisis control mode, but the worst directive of his stint as Minister of Energy may be the direction to extend the NUG's.
The 1980's, and early 1990's, were a time in Ontario's Electricity sector history when massive projects, primarily nuclear builds (Pickering B, BruceB and Darlington - in that order) were underway as demand growth unexpectedly slowed (it's been slowing for 6 decades and it's still somehow unexpected). Rate impacts for new projects then, as now, couldn't take effect until the project entered service, so as Darlington was repeatedly delayed, and cost escalated, concern started to build about the costs of electricity in Ontario, but concerns also grew about the power planning process in Ontario.
The changeability of the future suggests to us that megaprojects are becoming less of a credible answer. They are a huge capital drain and carry a great deal of financial risk.
When the future is uncertain, it's better to count on smaller increments that track growth in electricity demand more precisely, and don't pose such a rate shock when they come into service. Their environmental impacts should be smaller- or at least more localized.
That's an important reason why, by the year 2000, we expect non-utility generators will be able to meet 14 per cent of our system load requirements.
When Hydro filed our 25-year plan in 1989, we were counting on 1,000 megawatts of non-utility generation. Since then, we've announced new targets. We now expect 3,100 term. Response from the private sector has been overwhelming. We are malting deals with as many proponents as we can fit onto the transmission system.
Projects involving cogeneration are getting preference, for environmental and economic reasons. Clearly, cogeneration efficiencies of up to 80 per cent reduce overall energy use and environmental damage.
And it's clear to us at Hydro that industries that generate revenues along with energy will be able to compete better against their global competitors. And by avoiding major new investments for Hydro, they will help make our province more competitive.
By the time Mr. Eliesen delivered this speech 1989's 25-year plan was already outdated; a deep recession had gutted demand from levels already lower than anticipated when the "megaprojects" of Pickering B, Bruce B, and Darlington were initiated. The inertia of bureaucratic plans was still masking the obvious from Eliesen.
During a recession the target was tripled because it was plausible to argue the projects were good for business and "green": cogeneration provided a more efficient use of gas, and some projects used exhaust gases from TransCanada's pipeline to generate power.
As Ontario ended the NUG strategy that would make industries "able to compete better against their global competitors," it started to recover and move to a much stronger economy.
When Ontario Hydro was broken up, it's liabilities were either deemed backed by assets, or deemed to form an unfunded liability to be managed by the Ontario Electricity Finance Corporation (OEFC).
The OEFC's first annual report showed at formation an unfunded liability of $19.433 billion, of which $4.286 billion was due to the expensive NUG contracts.
By 2005 the market had been launched, a government had cowered and frozen rates, and the newer Liberal government had, under Minister of Energy Dwight Duncan, introduced the global adjustment mechanism which created a method to recover from ratepayers, on a monthly basis, the full costs of electricity contracts, including the NUG contracts.
Effective January 1, 2005, the OEFC started to receive actual contract prices for power sold under legacy Ontario Hydro Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the non-utility generators (NUGs), as well as related administrative costs, and is no longer incurring losses on these contracts, effectively eliminating this liability to the OEFC.
When gas-fired resources are used, they are generally planned to be SCGT, to meet peaking requirements, or CCGT, to meet intermediate requirements...There are also a number of gas-fired generators, known as non-utility generators or NUGs, which are assumed to operate as baseload resources because of the contractual terms of their current NUG contracts. The Plan assumes that for the NUG contracts that expire by 2015, the associated capacity will continue, but will meet intermediate and peaking load requirements, depending on whether the NUGs are CCGT or SCGT resources, respectively.
This weekend the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Hourly Generator Output & Capability report showed natural gas-fired generation reduced to ~500MW, which coincides with about 1/2 the NUG's being curtailed for the weekend (because the OEFC holds the contracts, curtailment is scheduled ahead of time and generally for a weekend).
It appears Ontario's ratepayers may be charged for the NUG production that was curtailed while Ontario's atmosphere received emissions from the NUG production that wasn't curtailed during off-peak hours, and during on-peak hours we didn't get the emissions from the inflexible NUG's but instead got a full component from coal-fired generation !
NUG's provide inflexible, expensive, greenhouse gas emitting generation. They were originally contracted under a false premise that megaprojects were more expensive than multiple small projects nobody paid much attention to; they provided about 6% of the supply mix as Ontario Hydro was broken up but accounted for ~22% of the unfunded liability Ontario's ratepayers were left to deal with.
Some NUG's provide a benefit to the natural gas pipeline business - and it's somewhat obscene that electricity ratepayers are funding the natural gas industry this directly.
Ontario claims to be consulting on a Long Term Energy Plan, yet it again deals primarily with electricity.
Electricity CO2 equivalent emissions are less than the emissions from fossil fuels providing residential heating. Most Ontarians that opine on energy don't seem to realize our peak use is in winter; electricity peaks in the summer but that peak isn't much different than other months, whereas natural gas use soars in cold weather.
There is no justification for spiking electricity rates higher to subsidize gas heating and the operation of gas pipelines, which leaving explanations of extending non-utility generators' contracts ranging from incompetence through consultation processes hopelessly skewed to favour lobbyists/"stakeholders" and at the most unseemly end, corruption.
Dealing with the ridiculous NUG directive would provide an indication that the Premier really does want to have a meaningful discussion about the electricity sector; without some meaningful action, her claims to want to have a conversation only indicate a desire to appear to care.


text:
"Ivy League" is the eight private universities and colleges in the northeastern United States that are considered the most prestigious high schools of the United States (and some of the most prestigious in the world).
Although officially there is a student sports league with this title, under the "Ivy League" is very often means that educational institutions. Is that the name "Ivy League" appeared in the thirties of the twentieth century in articles of sports journalists. Assumes that all universities of the League are so old that their buildings are Ivy.
Universities "Ivy League" is called the "ancient eight", because it includes the oldest United States Universities. Seven of the eight "Ivy League" Universities were founded before the United States gained independence.
There is a fairly widespread belief about the elitism and even snobizme the "Ivy League" universities and, nowadays, their graduates. Indeed, virtually all existing models by dividing the population of the United States in social classes is that belonging to the highest strata of society need to get an education in one of the Universities "Ivy League".
In the early 20th century, it was believed that in "the League" can only representatives of the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant "white Anglo-Saxons Protestant", while members considered elite on racial, national and religious groups in United States). At the same time, Cornell University was one of the first universities of United States, renounced racial and gender discrimination in the admission of students.
Graduates of universities "Ivy League" are the four past United States President: George Bush (Yale University), Bill Clinton (Yale University), George Bush (Yale and Harvard universities) and Barack Obama (Columbia and Harvard universities).
Advise to read:
Business Schools: The need of today
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The Slim 5 wood side panels are made using genuine oak, and are 3/4" thick. Ideally suited for applications requiring the look of fine furniture, the panels are finished with a hand- rubbed stain, and are sealed with a protective polyurethane coating. Available in both standard and custom sizes. Sold in pairs.


Blacksmithing is an ancient craft and this experience offers a chance to visit a real forge in the heart of rural Herefordshire and be guided in the art of making your very own iron momento (choose anything you like). This brilliant opportunity to get the adrenaline pumping and create a keepsake from scratch is truly rewarding. Start with a full safety briefing and get kitted out with the necessary equipment in the working forge workshop. The experienced instructors are there all the way to provide plenty of help and guidance, so pick up that hammer and anvil - you'll be amazed what you are capable of producing. It isn't all work, the experience includes time to order lunch or take a picnic in the nearby Oldfield Forge woods - the perfect day!
Minimum age is 16 (under 18's need a parent/guardian to sign the personal information form). Please advise in advance of any health issues, however minor. Wheelchair users welcome, please advise needs at point of booking.
Lasts around five hours, with four hours spent in the forge and an hour for lunch. Should you need additional time to finish off making your keepsake, you can spend up to an extra hour doing so.
Share the experience with up to 19 others.
For this working environment, wear fully covering loose fitting cotton clothing with old jeans or trousers. All jewellery, skirts, vests, loose cuffs are prohibited. Sturdy boots are recommended. Leather aprons are provided. Long hair must be tied.