Hydro prices going up like a rocket

[islandman4567]

have you guys seen this?

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/22082010/71/central-hydro-prices-rocket.html

anyone got one of those locked in rates?
seems like a good idea now.

 

[OddSox]

But Tom Carpenter, a research associate at Queen's University's Institute for Energy and the Environment, said claims that green energy will drive up the price of electricity are "simply false."

Over the next two or three years, Carpenter said, the impact of FIT projects on electricity rates will be negligible, because the high-priced renewable energy will only represent a tiny fraction of the province's generating capacity.

As the program expands, he said, economies of scale will kick in and prices will come down sharply.

Yeah, right.

 

[nottyboi]

The locked in rates probably factor in all the possible increases PLUS a profit. I don't see why this is necessary. Quebec has a huge power surplus. I don't see why Ontario doesn't just sign long term contracts with them to import power and downsize Hydro.

email the energy minister and tell him what you think of their incompetence:

bduguid.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

or like most Ontarians, shaddap and suck it up.

 

[landscaper]

This wqould not have anything to do with time of use meters and the scheduling of prime time from 5 am until 9 pm would it?

The price being paid for green energy is rediculous . 87 cents per kwhr for solar energy , not to mention the sweetheart deal a Korean company got on a sole source contract to build a factory here 5 billion or so before its done.

This government is really out of control and out to lunch, and hopefully in a year or so they will be out of power.

 

[nottyboi]

This wqould not have anything to do with time of use meters and the scheduling of prime time from 5 am until 9 pm would it?

The price being paid for green energy is rediculous . 87 cents per kwhr for solar energy , not to mention the sweetheart deal a Korean company got on a sole source contract to build a factory here 5 billion or so before its done.

This government is really out of control and out to lunch, and hopefully in a year or so they will be out of power.

The solar energy thing has a lot of strings attached. Like Ontario content for example, so the GOVT will get a lot of $$ back from the initial install.

 

[capncrunch]

This government is really out of control and out to lunch, and hopefully in a year or so they will be out of power.

Well, you may be right. But if you think that another government of a different stripe is going to act any different than the current Premier and his party, you're living in a dream world. No offence.

 

[Keebler Elf]

It's actually an unfortunate and uncoordinated result of HST increases, electricity rate increases from Hydro One (the transmission company), "green" energy (e.g., high price guaranteed contracts to entice private companies to provide "green" power), and time of use premium rates for peak periods. Call it a quadruple whammy. And Ontario Power Generation (the generation company) will be asking for a rate increase as well so it's only going to get worse.

While I strongly believe the price of electricity SHOULD go up to more accurately reflect the true cost of electricity rather than the subsidized rates we're paying, there's clearly no one overseeing the system as a whole so we're being nickle and dimed to death.

Come next election, just remember that all that "green" energy we supposedly want is costing us an arm and a leg and we'll be the ones paying for it. Why the province is causing Ontario Power Generation to "spill" water over its dams (i.e., not using it to produce power but instead letting it "escape") rather than produce power is borderline criminal. But because the province has guaranteed rich contracts and first-use of electricity production to private companies, we're paying anywhere from 5-13 times the rate of electricity we could be paying if we used the infrastructure that's already present.

 

[OddSox]

Not to worry .... If Timmy Hudak gets in, he'll get all his advice from Mike Harris

Good.

 

[Marcus1027]

This started 7 years ago when this jackass (McGuinty) started shutting down our coal fired plants and then turned around and bought coal produced power from the US. Any smart person would have had a plan in place to replace the generating capacity before mothballing the plants, not this guy. We had some of the top nuclear scientists in the world here in Ontario and how do we capitalize on that? we sign a deal with Samsung to buy windmills! Can anyone say avro aero? Better yet, what do we do on those days when there is no wind, or no sun? This whole green energy thing has become a real load of shit! Here's a plan, build a few more nuclear plants, tap some of the hydro potential some of our northern rivers have and send the fucking windmills back to Korea. If McGuinty is really worried about bringing industry to ontario, he should think about the fact that manufacturing requires electricity and lots of it at competitive prices, wind and solar dont cut it. Those sources are great ,if its the support of the birkenstock wearing beat nik hippy crowd living in the annex he's looking for. However if he is so concerned about ontario families like he always claims to be, he should look at the size of our hydro bills and take note.

 

[doggee_01]

The locked in rates probably factor in all the possible increases PLUS a profit. I don't see why this is necessary. Quebec has a huge power surplus. I don't see why Ontario doesn't just sign long term contracts with them to import power and downsize Hydro.

well you should ask the boys in newfoundland what they think of signing long term deals with quebec on hydro but start to run real fast!

 

[doggee_01]

McGuinty needs to rape us some more because he knows we're not going to elect the fucker for a 3rd term ( who the fuck voted for his 2nd term should be deported)...that's why. He fucking lied about every fucking thing he did then turns around and admits yes it is going to be this and that when he previously said, no it won't be like that....he's the fucking most crookest premier Ontario has seen yet.

yep you got that right

 

[GPIDEAL]

Many interesting POVs here. Cottage power is goddam expensive. Last bill I got which included the spring, the delivery was half the fucking cost of the power (do I just let things freeze in the winter?). I've got locked in rates for residential and commercial here in Toronto though.

To boot, we're still paying for the sins of the old Hydro in that debt recovery charge.

Just too much waste and incompetence happening.

 

[Keebler Elf]

OPG is actively looking at biomass generation to replace coal as a fuel.

Not gunna happen. At least not anything more significant than a photo opp.

The fuel costs for biomass on a large scale would be through the roof.

 

[flubadub]

Not gunna happen. At least not anything more significant than a photo opp.

The fuel costs for biomass on a large scale would be through the roof.

Not to mention the idiocy of burning food (or what could have been food) for fuel.

 

[Possum Trot]

Not to worry .... If Timmy Hudak gets in, he'll get all his advice from Mike Harris

McQuinty is making Harris look very very good right at the moment so I'm not sure what your point is.

But to some extent I agree, a new government is not going to solve anything quickly when it comes to Hydro costs. Every government since Bill Davis has been fumbling this. The only workable fix is nuclear. Why people won't just finally admit that is beyond me. We can't build another James Bay I don't think. Can you imagine what would happen if the government talked about flooding 10's of thousands of acres of native land the way that Quebec did in the 70's?

Windmills may be Dalton's final folly.