Comment
Surveying the wreckage
A good friend of mine runs a business in the County. He has done so for 40 years. He showed me his electricity bill last week. In December, he spent $770 on electricity. It was one of the least expensive lines on his bill. The global adjustment charge was $4,267.32. There was also a delivery charge, a debt retirement charge and an array of taxes. In total, he spent nearly $10,000 in December—for $770 of electricity. He doesn’t know where this money is going. He is not sure he can keep up. He isn’t alone.
The global adjustment is a catch-all fee that covers the provincial government’s intervention in electricity generating market. It pays for solar generators, industrial wind turbine plants and subsidized exports to Michigan and Quebec. It covers the subsidized rates some chosen industries pay. It pays for the lawyers who battle residents and groups—including the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists—at tribunals and courtrooms across the province.
In essence, my friend is paying an amount nearly six times the value of the electricity he used to line the pockets of industrial wind developers, solar companies, lawyers, foreign owned smelters, as well as enriching Michigan’s coffers to take this power off our grid.
He has enough challenges in his business—he can’t afford to pay the cost of the Ontario’s Liberals decade of mismanagement of electricity in this province.
The province explains the global adjustment as the difference between the market price, set by the forces of supply and demand, and the price it pays to contracted suppliers. So let’s look at that a bit closer.
That same year, the average market price for electricity in Ontario was 2.65 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). In 2013 the average price paid to Ontario Power Generation (a mix of nuclear, gas and hydro) was 5.7 cents. The average price paid to all other producers was 9.9 cents per kWh.
Industrial wind producers earn between 11.5 and 13.5 cents per kWh. Solar producers can earn up to 39.6 cents for new contracts, while older deals pay as much as 82 cents per kWh.
In 2013, Ontario generators produced a total of 154 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. Wind and solar produced just 6.5 TWh, or 4.2 per cent. Not only was it really expensive—we had to subsidize Michigan and Quebec to take it off our grid. Electricity exports that year were 14.6 TWH—two and half times the amount of electricity generated by wind and solar. It cost Ontarians more than $1.2 billion to shed this excess in 2013.
Worse, the province instructed hydroelectricity generators—the least expensive and cleanest form of electricity—to spill water over their dams rather than generate electricity. According to Ontario Power Generation’s 2013 annual report, it estimates that 1.7 TWh of electricity generating capacity spilled over hydro dams in 2013 under the direction of the province.
The first thing the province does when it has excess electricity is to order OPG to take hydro generating facilities offline. Again, the cheapest and cleanest form of electricity we have.
We waste more hydroelectricity generating capacity in Ontario than we generate from every solar panel in the province.
Sadly, it will get worse. The province is eager to see 3,300 MW of new solar and industrial wind development added to the mix over the next 18 months.
We will pay much, much more than market price to purchase this power. We will agree to do so over 20 year contracts. Our exports will continue to rise to shed this load at subsidized rates to our neighbours. And our hydroelectricity facilities will spend more time idle to enable the brave new world of solar and wind.
Over the past decade, we have traded a powerful competitive advantage for a handful of shiny beads. We waste or give away more electricity than we will ever generate from wind and solar. Manufacturers have deserted the province. Others will follow.
Smaller businesses have less mobility—they can’t simply pick up and move to a less expensive jurisdiction. But when they are asked to spend $10,000 for $770 of electricity, they have to re-examine their options. Soon they won’t have a choice.
rick@wellingtontimes.ca
It is amusing to watch you all banter on about Socialism. It is exactly the social aspects of Germany that is driving Green energy there. Problem is we have 2 parties who have had all the power in this country and one party nobody seems to like. I guess that is why Alberta said, screw ya all and we voted NDP. Or maybe we were saying, hey Canada, there is another option. We want a government for the people and we hope the NDP will be that. We talk about capitalism and the free market, and yet we allow all these monopolies to continue happening in the energy sector. Our CRTC laws essentially allow monopolies for companies like Telus, Shaw, Rogers, Bell. Any competition that shows up is automatically dissolved into one of these larger behemoths. It is time for laws for the Canadian people, rather than every freaken multi-billion dollar corporation.
Governments and the Wind Industry continue to deny health impacts.
The Health Canada study is widely quoted in the media. However, they only released a summary. Neither the data nor the results/paper were released, and the report has not been peer reviewed.
Note that Health Canada indicates that in a significant fraction of respondents experienced “severe annoyance”, and that “WTN annoyance was found to be statistically related to several self-reported health effects including, but not limited to, blood pressure, migraines, tinnitus, dizziness, scores on the PSQI,and perceived stress.”
Here is a response to the Health Canada study. It is written by Carmen Krogh (former Health Canada employee, chief pharmacist for Canada) and Dr Robert McMurtry (Order of Canada, former Dean Western University Medical School, and former advisor to Health Canada). The commentary is on the Canadian Medical Association Journal web page:
cmajblogs DOT com/health-canada-and-wind-turbines-too-little-too-late/
What exactly are you trying to sell here?
http://www DOT hc-sc DOT gc DOT ca/ewh-semt/alt_formats/pdf/noise-bruit/turbine-eoliennes/pamphlet-brochure-eng DOT pdf
Illness and chronic disease*
No evidence was found to support a link
between exposure to wind turbine noise and any
of the self-reported illnesses (such as dizziness,
tinnitus, migraines) and chronic conditions (such
as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes).
Stress*
No association was found between the multiple
measures of stress (such as hair cortisol, blood
pressure, heart rate, self-reported stress) and
exposure to wind turbine noise.
Sleep*
The results of this study do not support an
association between wind turbine noise and
self-reported or measured sleep quality.
*
While some people reported some of the health conditions
above, their existence was not found to change in relation
to exposure to wind turbine noise.
Annoyance and quality of life
An association was found between increasing
levels of wind turbine noise and individuals
reporting to be very or extremely annoyed.
No association was found with any significant
changes in reported quality of life, or with overall
quality of life and satisfaction with health. This was
assessed using the abbreviated version of the
World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Scale.
Noise
Calculated noise levels were found to be
below levels that would be expected to directly
affect health (World Health Organization—
Community Noise Guidelines [1999]
). This finding
is consistent with self-reported and measured
results of the study
This was the PDF directly from your link. Which means everything you Cherry picked was horse apple.
The irony of this is that Ontario for all its money spent on subsidies for renewable energy, is not even reducing C02 emissions. We have been sold a bill of goods by our government, and by the environmental movement in general. Neither wants to admit that this scheme has been a huge failure.
OSPE (Ontario Society of Professional Engineers) have written a number of reports that show the difficulty integrating intermittent wind energy into the electrical grid. For details look at the document “Engineering Expertise Vital to Success of Ontario’s Electricity System: OSPE”, Jan 16, 2013.
Engineers’ reports are significant because they are legally bound to report success (or failure) of their projects. Reading the reports you’ll see what we have suspected all along. Engineers must follow government mandate (move to Green energy), but they cannot show a reduction in C02.
80% of the electrical grid system needs maintenance. Our nuclear power plants need refurbishment. We need to change the traditional grid into a smart grid for stability and easy of use. Maybe this guy should get some solar panels or something to offset his use. I’d like to know what this business is for that matter pretty easy to cherry pick some bill with no information about the business.
I am in BC and we have our share of liberal left-wing radicals enacting carbon taxes, fuel surcharges, and subsidies for alternate sources of energy that are economically nonviable. This does not include recycling programs that are unable to support themselves requiring yet more government subsidies.
If it can be demonstrated that such programs are required to ease infrastructure (fresh water plants, sewage facilities and the like) I can go along and I am even willing to pay a modest-meaning small-percentage on my bill to support reductions in the demands to the main producers and processors. Did I mention a small percentage?
The problem is that politicians learn far too quickly that it is easier to lie and obfuscate than tell a truth that may negatively impact their elect-ability.
“less than 40% of the people of Ontario (who voted) – and less than 50% voted” meaning less than 20% of eligible voters representing the hard core left in most jurisdictions are running the province. Over 50% did not vote and said “rape us! We don’t care what you do!”
The liberal government looks good on them and the hard core left. Pay, all of you Lenin’s “useful idiots” and apathetic naught-heads! Pay, and pay some more. Pay until the stupidity and apathy bankrupt you. The rest of you-take the pain and use it to motivate you to get to work electing genuine conservative, financially responsible people into office.
Sadly the Province’s not so Green Energy Act removed the democratic right to veto the Agenda 21-inspired economic suicide of massive unreliable energy projects in rural areas.
The gas plant scandal illustrated what most suspected, that the Toronto area voters were exempt from this tyranny. It is no wonder that the voters have become apathetic, they see that the system is now so rigged that overt corruption and intimidation are rewarded.
For those who are tied to their land the last chance may be that the new PC leader will spend the next four years exposing the treasonous Agenda 21 ideology behind the economic suicide of Ontario and with their help fighting very hard, return fairness and Democracy to all citizens.
To the extent the utility police don’t hunt you down (unfortunately easy if you are an existing customer who asks to be disconnected). going fully off-grid in Ontario is now the way to go. The utility company does not know I exist. Installed a new electricity storage system (using batteries able to handle many 000’s of charge cycles) paired with 50kW of solar PV (200 panels on two shed roofs). All-in cost including 10 year depreciation of the system is about $0.20/kWh, which compared to anyone’s bill in Ontario including global adjustment charge and HST is way cheaper. I love Ontario but to stay here I’ve had to leave the Ontario grid.
Great article.
The ultimate travesty of course, that the very people who make the rules and squander a productive legacy on piddle power also reward themselves with handsome pension for doing so. Our silence is costly.
I have a tiny cottage; I left mid October; Late in December I got another bill for electricity; $370.00 and for what? Nothing but a sump pump is on. THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS TO RUN A SUMP PUMP? and it has been dry there – the pump is on vacation!
this is unmanageable. Is there a home for people to take refuge from the hydro bills?
I was born here but have lived and worked in 6 different provinces. I moved back here to finish out my career with the idea of retiring in the small town I was born in.
As it stands now provincial taxes, utilities inflation due to provincial tax, cost of living inflation (largely due to supply chain taxes)HST and a dozen other taxes masquerading as fees, permits and licencing, will erode my savings before I die and force a drastic down sizing to near subsistence level living – just to stay on my family farm/home.
Take it from an Ontarian who has experienced better tax rates in other provinces and far better economic days in this province; this province has been destroyed by political misadventure. Ontario is not a place to retire or own a small enterprise. Flee while you can before the official robbery begins to pay service charges on the 300 Billion debt – flee while you can, I am.
In Ontario, manufacturing is a shadow of its former self, and small businesses struggle as outlined above. There is no political will or incentive to “fix” this because for many families in Ontario, it is frankly, NOT a problem.
As long as the generous wages and benefits keep coming for:
hydro workers, nurses ,cops, judges, university/college people, city/town workers, doctors, paramedics, ambulance, health unit, service Ontario, MNR, Ministry of this and that, corrections, parole officers, LCBO, Beer Store, teachers, etc, etc, etc – nothing needs to change (for these folks).
Everyone knows it’s not sustainable, but maybe this is just who we are for now until the money runs out.
The Liberal government of Ontario have deliberately bought off Liberal members of the provincial government and also deliberately set up provincial finances so that equalization payments from Saskatchewan and Alberta will be almost guaranteed in perpetuity!
Individuals do various things, and no single voter is to blame, but in a democracy, the outcome of elections reflects the collective will of the group as a whole. Collectively, the people of Ontario chose this. Collectively, the people of Ontario are too dumb to survive. You need to start shedding excess voters even if you have to pay someone to take them away like you pay Michigan and Quebec to take your electricity. I’m going to write to my MLA and tell him this province (Saskatchewan) shouldn’t allow people from Ontario to move here, no matter how much we are offered in bribes. (We already grow all the stupid we need, right here.)
“Why do we continue to let them away with…” Because this is what you voted for as a province. Whether you did personally or not is immaterial. You’re still going to get stuck with holding the bag for her wiping hard drives, for their cronies whose pockets you’re lining, etc.
Ontario, you reap what you sow. You wanted socialism and, those of you that remain, are going to get it good and hard.
How stupid is Ontario? Stupid enough to vote the same criminal element in again. Wait and see.
Sadly you are very right. The tragedy is that less than 40% of the people of Ontario (who voted) – and less than 50% voted because the Conservatives put forward such a hopeless candidate – voted for the Liberals, yet here they sit with a majority government. Toronto voted the Liberals in, not one other Ontario riding did, yet we are the ones saddled with their monstrous wind turbines. Toronto should be paying the “debt reduction fee”. The rest of us would just like to see Toronto become its own province and leave us out of the rampant stupidity!
In Ontario’s defense; only the 416 area code (Toronto) actually voted Liberal.
The rest of us poor saps get the shaft because Toronto is either corrupt, or dumb as dung. What we really need is separate representation for Toronto, or complete provincial parliament riding reform. It is ridiculous that one small area code can dictate the representation of the entire province of Ontario.
Let me guess — those windfarm producers, lawyers, solar producers all give lots of money to the Liberal Party and its retired leaders. Some should be in front of a firing squad or at least in jail.
I live in B..C. How can we tap into this “”almost free” electricity you guys are offloading.
Why do we continue to let them away with such missmanagment ? If I ran my farm this way I would be out of business in no time. If I tried to bill my customers like Hydro they would tell me to take my product elsewhere. Picture this…..I take a load of corn to market, it weighs 10 tonne, I tell the buyer they have to add .09 $ per unit as some spilled out on the trip here and you have to pay to get the seed to me and you have to pay a debt reductions charge as I have a mortgage and you have to pay the cost to get the corn from my farm to you etc.. It would not work…..How does Hydro get away with this ?????????