Ontario recently swapped Energy and Education Ministers. Early comments from the new Minister of Energy (and Electrification), Stephen Lecce, indicate a type of student we see far too often in the fields of environment and energy; one willing to take direction without putting much thought, or study, into them. Of particular concern are comments on exporting power. In a recent interview
[1] Lecce describes ‘three key priorities” in his “marching orders” from the Premier. Presumably the current Premier, Doug Ford, but maybe not.
First, we are absolutely committed to ensuring an affordable electricity system for families, seniors and small businesses.
Second is the expansion of clean-energy generation for the people of Ontario. We already have one of the cleanest grids on the continent. The vision is to continue to generate more as our population increases, our industry expands and our manufacturing electrifies.
Third is to help build out Ontario as a clean-energy superpower, able to export our energy – as we already do. We’re already a net exporter to New York and other places. We want to strengthen our clean-energy advantage and export technology and electricity around the world, particularly in the United States. [emphasis added]
I have long-standing concerns about exports.My first
blog post to garner significant attention, and spur mainstream stories bringing
comments from then Premier Dalton McGuinty, reported on the high exports and negative pricing of January 1st, 2011. “A full decade later I was
still writing estimates on losses incurred on exporting electricity, which grew rapidly along with the growth in supply spurred by McGuinty’s Green Energy Act. This post is going to build off of another discussion on losses on exports in the context of “affordable electricity for families”, using a presentation I’ve added to reporting built on basic data shared from the system operator (IESO)..
