In her testimony March 21 to the Public Accounts Committee, Ontario’s Auditor General (AG) Bonnie Lysyk issued findings documenting outrageously bad behaviour by the IESO management and board of directors. Since the IESO board is no longer independent, having become simply an extension of the Ministry of Energy — albeit with much higher labour rates …
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The following notes summarize about an hour of live radio interviews on three shows (Tom McConnell, Scott Thompson, and Craig Needles) addressing the December 2017 report of the Auditor General on the IESO and also a recent report of the Market Surveillance Panel on gaming by the Goreway generating station.
At the Ontario legislature’s Estimates Committee last week on Wednesday, NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns asked the Energy minister, the deputy minister, and OPG officials to explain an amount of $4 billion in extra financing costs that the Financial Accountability Officer attributed solely to the government’s choice of an “alternative” financing model. The fumbling responses …
Continue reading ‘Hide and Seek with ‘Fair’ Hydro Plan Costs’ »
rx online In March 1993, one of the defining moments in Maurice Strong’s leadership period for Ontario Hydro occurred — Strong announced the shut down the utility’s energy conservation programs. He justified his initiative noting that conservation programs during the prevailing surplus of generating capacity would harm consumers already hurting from recent rate increases. At …
Continue reading ‘Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Pushes the Conservation Con’ »
Here is an exchange in the Ontario legislature from December 3 where Opposition Energy Critic John Yakabuski demands an explanation from Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli for the careless waste now driving up power rates. Compare Minister Chiarelli’s comments about Lower Mattagami with what the Auditor General said and what she might also have added.
The Auditor General’s (AG) 2015 is the most complete, concise, and accurate source available for folks seeking to understand what’s up with Ontario power rates.
Two themes of my public comments on the sale of Hydro One have been that there is no windfall available from the sale to fund government spending initiatives and that creating a Potemkin windfall will hasten Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation’s (OEFC) collapse into insolvency. Supporters of the Hydro One sale, including the Globe & Mail …
Continue reading ‘Grabbing Cash from Municipalities to Fund Hydro One “Windfall”’ »
Over the last two weeks, there have been a dizzying swirl of announcements and reports on various aspects of Ontario electricity prices. With official Ontario working hard to keep the issues confused and impacts spread out over time, it is challenging for consumers to follow the multiple shell games going on at once. Here are …
Continue reading ‘Ontario’s Power Rates Are Going Up How Much?’ »
This Youtube video summarizes some of my themes from a presentation to the Scarborough Southwest Ontario PC Association on February 2nd. The three topics I addressed were McGuinty’s gas plant scandal and where it is heading, the implications for rates and reliability of not repealing the Green Energy Act, and a review and endorsement of …
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The leader of Ontario’s minority government has resigned in a controversy over electricity. But even as he walks away, the mess he created is getting worse by the day. All major electricity projects in Ontario that can be delayed without severe penalty must be frozen immediately. Moratorium now. Public concern about the gas plant issue …