Smile, And Say "Goebbels" - A note from the government

This release, Electricity Exports Help Keep Ontario's Supply Strong,  is remarkably dishonest


"This revenue helps Ontario:

• Keep costs down for families"

No, this revenue set against the costs of producing the power does not keep costs down for families.  This figure is meaningless by itself, and put together with the purchasing costs adds, by my calculations, $50 million to the costs of Ontario's consumers in the month of May only.  Net Exports (exports less imports) of over 1,300,000 MWh sold for only $3,100,000.



"Since 2006, the electricity market has generated $1.5 billion through net exports, which is in stark contrast to 2002 and 2003 when Ontario paid $900 million to import power."

 ... and we generated that $1.5 billion by sending away about 39,600,000 MWh.  Since 2006 that puts the average export price at around $35.80/MWh, which is at least 50% less than Ontario residents, and, perhaps more importantly, Ontario's gutted industry, has paid over that time.

    
Between 1995 and 2003, Ontario's electricity system lost 1,800 megawatts of power, the equivalent of Niagara Falls running dry.

I don't know what these figures are, but in 1995 Ontario had opened Darlington to find no increased demand had materialized, and hard decisions were made to shutter the least productive generators to control escalating costs, in part from subsidized exports.  The net exports in 1994 and 1995 were at levels, 10,000,000MWh annually, not seen again until 2008, since which time the Global Adjustment has soared as the full incompetence of the Ministry of Energy, and the Ontario Power Authority, revealed itself.


A ClearSky Advisors study recently done for CANWEA, on the genius and job creation potential of the  government's energy policies, shows that by 2018 we will be net exporters of electricity once again.
That's based on their supportive interpretation of the McGuinty government's plan.

Here's the graph of my estimations on how overproduction is causing the dumping on export markets that drives up the price for Ontario's families and businesses.  The orange bars are running 12-month totals showing how much more Ontario's businesses would pay for the same amount of power as that exported at depressed rates.  This difference I have termed the 'Export Subsidy.' as domestic prices fund the sales of exports. The government has lost control of procurement, while demand remains stagnant following the hot summer of 2010.