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All about our 'broken down' electricity grid

The electricity system is at 'very high risk of failing'
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Ontarians are paying too much for electricity, even as the reliability of power transmission in Ontario is worsening, says the Auditor General in her yearly report.

In the report, Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk writes the amount residential and small-business electricity consumers paid for the electricity commodity portion of their bill has increased from 5.02 cents/kWh to 9.06 cents/kWh since 2004.

That is a 70-percent increase in 10 years.

This contributes to $37-billion in payments over market price by consumers over the last 10 years, with an estimated additional $133-billion to be paid between 2015 and 2032.

When surplus energy is exported, the province does not charge the same Global Adjustment Fees as it does to its own residents.

In the report, Lysyk describes the planning process of the power system in Ontario as having ‘broken down.’ 

“Operating outside the checks and balances of the legislated planning process, the Ministry of Energy has made a number of decisions about power generation that have resulted in significant costs to electricity consumers,” Lysyk wrote in the report.

The total cost of producing power that was exported between 2009 and 2014 was about $3.1-billion more than the revenue received from selling it.

In some instances where too much power was being produced, the province paid exporters over $32-million between 2009 and 2014 to take our surplus power.

In addition, the cost to consumers for renewable power — including solar and wind energy — is estimated be $9.2-billion more over 20 years than they would have paid under the previous program.

Ontarians are paying double for wind power and triple for solar power than what comparable U.S. consumers pay.

Lysyk also cites the estimated $950-million cost of cancelling two gas plants in the GTA prior to the 2011 provincial election and the Lower Mattagami hydro project going $1-billion over budget.   

The report notes a lack of transparency as energy consumers are not informed as to reasons behind rising energy costs.

Lysyk found the reliability of the electricity system in the province has worsened between 2010 and 2015 and is at “very high risk of failing.”

Nowhere more so than in Northern Ontario.

“We found 47 percent of transmission outages from 2010 to 2014 occurred in Northern Ontario, even though this is where fewer than 20-percent of Hydro One’s delivery points are located,” reads the report.

The reliability of the power transmission system is measured by duration of outages and frequency of outages.

The report found both of these metrics increased between 2010 and 2015 and unplanned outages increased by 30-percent.

It also found Ontario’s transmission system requires almost $4.5-billion to replace aging infrastructure.


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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