McGuinty Thinks This is Fun?

There is a clip on YouTube of Premier McGuinty, with a loyal Dwight Duncan at his right hand, refuting claims that have been made on this blog.

A Train Derailment in Severn Falls - Again: What you Should Know.

People love a train wreck ... from afar.

The Barrie Examiner is close to the action, and their latest report starts "CP Rail trains are expected to roll through Severn Falls by Friday morning after crews worked 24/7 to clear the tracks."

Which begs some questions:
Should they be allowed to?
What branch of the government should allow it?
Who has the final say on starting the trains back up?

A Bitterly Cold Emphasis on a New Year’s Problem

The figures are in for January 24^th, and they show the highest winter electricity consumption in over 2 years – for both the daily hourly average Ontario demand, 20036MW, and the hourly maximum of 22733, at 7pm.

The average Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) was $38.98/MWh for the day.  It peaked at $45.66/MWh (it did peak at 7pm, along with demand).

Foreign purchasers should get it at the market rate - presumably the HOEP, which average about $40/MWh.

Ontario users will pay about $68/MWh,

Cooking up Energy Policy, With The Star

You cannot charge the Global Adjustment on Exports.

A couple of months ago I thought I’d take up blogging to work on my communication skills.  I had some interests – one of which was electricity policy, and another one is data.  I’ve been working on my cooking skills too.

I’m a harsh self critic, but things seem to be going pretty well.  Slow-cooking a small turkey went fabulously, and nothing says comfort quite like a pot roast with my Staub La Cocotte cookware.  For the blog, aside from improving my ability to communicate, I’d hoped to incite some curiousity, and hopefully some debate, about things I feel are impacting people.  And I have.

Smartiness: Smart Meters and Smart Grids Without Smarts

An article in Vancouver begins; “BC Hydro is proceeding on the premise that its $930-million plan to install so-called smart electricity meters for its 1.5 million customers will pay for itself through cost savings and not a rate increase, according to its business plan.”  The article explains, “savings are expected to come from the elimination of manual meter reading, reduction in electricity theft and more efficient usage,” and notes “savings are expected to come from the elimination of manual meter reading, reduction in electricity theft and more efficient usage."

My Ontario eyes were shocked.

They have business plans!

The $60 Million Symptom

A release from Ontario’s PC party began; “Following media reports that confirmed Ontario families were forced to pay $60 million for our excess energy…”

That release, dated January 12, ^th didn’t note what media reports, but I wrote on January 3^rd:

“December 2010 saw Ontario export 1.6 TWh more electricity than it imported, which was a third more than the previous high from August 2008. This would be a much greater accomplishment if the IESO HOEP price wasn't approximately $35/MWh in December, and we didn't contract supply at around $70/MWh. This net export accomplishment cost us about $60 million.”

The other media report I’ll note is a Kitchener talk show hosted by Jeff Allan, where he interviewed Tom Adams, Peter Tabuns (NDP Energy Critic), and Energy Minister Brad Duguid , separately, on the topic of surplus generation.  There is some interesting discussion with Mr. Adams and Mr. Tabuns.  I do not believe Mr. Tabuns proposes solutions that could maintain pricing, or be able to keep emissions as low as they’ve been for several years now, but he does summarize the issue of overproduction very well.

Minister Duguid, by contrast, struck me as silly.

Much To Do About Nothing: Electricity Policy In Ontario

Something is bad.

Nothing is not.

This was a revelation for me. Nothing is what we all work towards. In the Ontario electricity industry of 2011, nothing drives everything. There are a number of laggards who fail to see the importance of nothing so, politically, the industry has adapted. There are ways to boast of doing nothing – generally by a flurry of feigned activity supported by measuring nought.

3 or 4 years ago I saw the long-term trend in Ontario Electricity consumption, from the Conservation Bureau. That was another revelation for me.

The Mainstream Press Addresses Electricity Records Noted Here - 7 days ealier.

On January 3^rd I posted to this blog that there were a number of statistical records to end 2010 and begin 2011. Today some of the mainstream press did to: Don Butler, at the Ottawa Citizen, and the Toronto Star's John Spears. Choose Bulter's – or read this to counter the Star's Silly Spin

Friday, January 7^th John Spears dutifully reported on the IESO press release summarizing 2010's generation totals. He parroted the increase in coal and gas, as well as the official government spin.

Comments on Release of IESO Annual Statistics for 2010

The IESO issued a release with the annual statistics for 2010. These events are a little anti-climatic for the data folks who check up regularly, with the exception of the totals by generation type. The big news was always going to be the increase in GHG emissions, over 2009, due primarily to the reduction in hydro output (simply from a lack of water), and also a minor growth in Ontario consumption.

We knew that from monthly reporting, but the IESO release has the annual figures, and adding the statistics for annual generation by fuel type to what I've got for the past 20 years, the trends continue.

“Sharper arguments are more fun than dull ones”

It's been an interesting week for me. Monday started with fresh data feeds, at the IESO, that allowed me to get some data for 2010, and January 1^st, 2011, that I noted contained some record figures. Friday morning, Tom Adams noted the post on his site – which I appreciate. Wind Concerns Ontario put the entry up on their site – which I also appreciate.

Initially I thought this was a great thing.

Then I went to my post on the records – and noticed the second sentence begins, "Here's a pair of records" and goes on to list 3 records (following a period instead of a colon).

Scott’s Submitted Comments on The Draft Supply Mix Directive

For anybody wishing to pursue commenting on the directive, or reviewing it, the online format is simply an online text box . The timeframe ends on January 7^th . I therefore rushed this a bit, and didn't bother creating my usual, informative, graphics for the text box.

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The combination of supply sources should be recognized as requiring expertise, and the Minister should be aware of his own limitations in directing electricity system engineers, and other professionals, in getting too specific. I would hope the intention of the Minister is to present the parameters for professionals to operate within.

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Records in Ontario’s Electricity Market Mark the New Year

The media tends to run all sorts of lists to mark the transition in the calendar year.

Here's a pair of records that just occurred – for all the reasons I've noted elsewhere on this blog.

• Monthly Net Exports hit an all-time high in December 2010.
• January 1^st was the lowest daily average for the HOEP (hourly Ontario Energy Price) since records began.
• January 1st, hour 21, wind output was recorded at 1186MW - a new record.