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Home My WebLink AboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-04-27, Page 17Advocate & North Lambton Since 1873 Stage testimonial for Murray Greene There's no energy shortage imes Serving South Huron, North Middlesex J Nuclear energy is the best option Ontario has for the . • next 20 to 30 years. Murray Greene, president of the On tario Municipal Electrical Association said Wednesday night. Speaking to° 75 municipal officials and local Exeter businessmen, the recently elected president said wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal energy is still waiting in the wings and can’t make a significant contribution now. The dinner at the Exeter Curling Club was held in honour of Greene, who is now head of the OMEA, a body which acts for the municipal electrical'utilities in Ontario. Greene, a former Exeter businessman, is also chairman of the Exeter Public Utilities Commis sion. Reading from a prepared speech, Greene minimized the problem of nuclear waste saying less waste was produced by nuclear plants than by other types of power stations. “I’m told by people in the Ministry of Energy that the amount of waste we’d make in providing all our elec trical energy requirements by nuclear means would be the size of a half dollar for each of us in our lifetime. Most of you make more waste from the ash of your cigarette than that. Just think of the waste from those coal fired stations. I guess in many respects it’s just dealing with the devil you know, not the devil you don’t,” he said. The municipal utility business is faced with dead ly delays of no decisions, said Greene, referring to the delay in building power lines. “I’m asking you to make this one of your up front, head of the list concerns and when you see indecision eating away at your vitals, insist that our politicians, our government, face up to reality and make a com mitment,” he said. In an interview, Greene said the power line problem was very serious as it left areas such as the Bruce nuclear power plant with energy they could not transmit. R. B. Taylor, chairman of Ontario Hydro, brought greetings from his corpora tion and said he was happy to see a shopkeeper from main street as the head of OMEA. “I think it is a good step to have a man who has had to meet monthly bills himself as leader of your organization,” he said. Taylor presented Greene with a ceremonial gavel. Mayor Bruce Shaw said it was an honour to Exeter to have a local person as head of the provincial body. Greene was presented with a brief case. Consumers' group In his introductory remarks, Greene outlined the work of the OMEA, tell ing of its origin and efforts. His comments were as follows: “It started in 1906 as a group of municipalities and individuals who were in terested in finding a source of energy to replace wood burning and who had centred on electrical energy. The problem was they'didn’t want to be held to ransom by private power companies and so they pressed for a municipal system.-' It was a tough fight for five or six years, but finally the Provincial Government was defeated on this issue. A new government initiated legislation that led to a municipal cooperative system whereby the Hydro Electric Power Commission undertook to contract for, or generate power for distribu tion by the municipalities undertook to cooperating who in turn pay all the I CHAIRMAN PRESENTS GIFT — A testimonial dinner held in honour of Murray Greene, president of the Ontario Municipal Electrical Association drew a large crowd of businessmen and dignitaries to the South Huron Rec Centre Wednesday even ing. In this picture chairman of the board of Ontario Hydro, R.B. Taylor presents a gift to Mr. Greene. T-A photo o debts. It turned out to be the finest example of cooperative enterprise in North America, perhaps anywhere. It was so good in fact that the Government couldn’t leave it alone. They made it a Crown Corpora tion in 1970 and you’ve been reading about it ever since. The O.M.E.A. considers itself a consumers associa tion. It acts for the municipal electric utilities in Ontario and their customers on all electric utility matters. The com missioners, and in a few cases, councillors, charged with the electric utility responsibility are for the most part elected. There is direct accountability to the consumer. We want to keep it that way. We hope you do too. As an example of the work undertaken, I refer to two items, bo'ch tax matters. For three years now O.M.E.A. has been seeking a Federal Sales Tax Exemp tion on electrical distribu tion equipment for use by a municipal utility. So far our efforts have not been successful, but we believe that relief from an es timated six million dollars each year that shows up as part of the local consumers electric bill, is worth pur suing. On the brighter side, just last year, pressing'for modification of Provincial Sales Taxes, O.M.E.A., working closely with the AMEU, successfully im pressed on the Ontario Minister of Revenue that all underground cable purchas ed by municipal utilities should be exempt from sales tax. So you can see we win some, while others are harder to score on. But we keep trying. The third thing I want to discuss with you deals with some of the things you read about energy. You read about the shortages, the dreadful plight of Midwest America two winters ago and the hanky panky with oil prices, at home as well as abroad. It all served to bring us up short. To make us realize that we were wasteful of a precious com modity. A finite resource. There isn’t a shortage of energy. How can you be con vinced that there is. - when the gas companies are hard at work seeking new markets and when gasoline price wars still flare up oc casionally? What we have is a view of the future. What we can see is that certain resources on which we rely heavily are being reduced in supply, are harder and more costly to acquire and yes. - ultimately - will run out. Here in Ontario we foresee, as indeed it is being foreseen around the world, a major shift to electricity as the consumer’s confidence in the supply of other fuels diminishes. At the same time financial pressures have resulted in the Ontario Government ar bitrarily cutting back on On tario Hydro’s program of building additional generating facility. Conservation was seen as the most immediate effec tive action to be taken and so a major campaign to make the consumer aware of the savings available and the need to conserve, has been launched. It may appear to have been a most effective program. Only last week, I read that Ontario Hydro had revised their growth estimate downwards to 5.5% per annum. Maybe that’s fortunate, maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just smoke clouding our visions. Just how much of the cutback in present use is the result of economic con ditions and how much relates to the conservation ethic I cannot say. I don’t believe Ontario Hydro could say or that the Government cobld say. I only know that the closing down of industry such as International Nickel and the like is bound to have a decided impact. And when those industries see a market developing again and open up their plants, they will have just as marked an effect on an in crease in demand as they have had in any decrease. In this field, you need long lead times to build plant to meet demand. If you plan short, there is no fast cor rective action you can take. If you plan on the long side - you can mothball it and accept the cost or you might sell the energy to an adja cent market, if you’re lucky. That’s the kind of tightrope Ontario Hydro planners walk. It just looks to me that when you err, it’s best you err on the high side. We also see a great resistance to the develop ment of the system. There’s a fight over where the plant will be located. There’s a fight over where the lines will run. There’s a fight over the kind of plant it should be. Sounds almost like an Irish wedding. Would you play a little word association game with me? What do vou think of when I say, right? Why left, of course? Now what about black? Did you say white? Sure you did. Now what about nuclear? Did you say energy? Or did you say ’- bomb? That’s where a good deal of our problem lies, in that word association and those who oppose the development of nuclear energy never miss the opportunity to re establish the connection. In fact, the Chairman of the Royal Commission on Elec tric Power Planning recent ly told such groups that he did not want to hear the word “bomb” again. And what about those other things? Solar power, wind power, geothermal, tidal, etc. Can’t we use them instead? Not the way things are today. You can heat water with^ solar, you can get some energy from the wind, geothermal works where it’s available, probably so will the tide. In the future, they may well take on greater significance, but right now they are stan ding in the wings. As I see it, we in Ontario have one of the finest nuclear plants in the world, with a great operating record and a great safety record. With that, we have an indigenous fuel. It’s the best option we have for the next 20-30 years. Yes and support your locally elected municipal utility commission. It’s one of the best representatives you ever had. fl Loses the battle, but wins the war Exeter PUC manager Hugh Davis lost a battle this week, but probably won the war in so doing. and Town, A-B sign new park pact The town of Exeter the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authority have signed a new agreement per taining to the park lands ad jacent to Riverview Park and also the land on the west side of the bridge formerly owned by Mary Elliott. Under the new agreement, title to the land is vested in the Authority and they will pay municipal taxes. They will also maintain the house located beside the Exeter swim pool, while the town will be responsible for all development and maintenance of the park lands. The Authority reserves the right to review and ap- prove all proposals for development of any of the lands. He told the Commission at their Monday meeting he was a little chagrined that nothing had been carried in the local newspaper to point out that the PUC would not be increasing water rates this year. He said whenever rates were increased, it drew news coverage, and he felt the fact there would be no rate increase should get some attention. Chairman Murray Greene asked Commissioner Chan Livingstone if he thought the PUC should place an adver- tisement advising customers there would be no increase. Livingstone quickly replied, “no”, pointing out that most customers were still smarting over the in crease announced last year. “Some customers seefn to think the rate has gone up every time they pay their bill,’.’ Davis added. However, while he failed in his attempt to get the PUC to take any action in advising customers .there has not been an increase, the foregoing story would in dicate that he may have served his purpose anyway. £ GET 25 YEAR CONGRATULATIONS — Two local ladies Ruth Durand and Isa Campbell were founders of the minor bowling program in Exeter and thev are still involved. Above, Grace Farquhar of the Exeter Lanes congratulates Isa and Ruth for their faithful service. T-A photo Some Space Still Available on EXETER TRAVEL CENTRE'S 1978 SERENE SEASON TOUR A Fully Escorted United Kingdom Tour A LIGHTER MOMENT — Enjoying a lighter moment at a testimonial dinner held in honour of Murray Greene are Greene, master of ceremonies Andy Bierling and Mayor Bruce Shaw of Exeter. T-A photo Date of Departure — Friday, September 8, 1978. Date of Return — Sunday, September 24, 1978. Pickup in — Clinton, Exeter and Lucan Air Canada to London and Return Visiting — Salisbury — Exeter — Newgupy — Bath — Worcester — Llandudno — Windermere — Glasgow — Edinburgh — York — Stratford — and London Included — Special Scottish night and medieval banquet in London. Meals — Full English breakfast and dinner each day except in London. Continental breakfast in London. Superior tourist class hotels with private facilities throughout. Cost per person, twin sharing, $1197.00. Single supplement $100.00. Federal tax $8,00. Mandatory cancellation insurance on Charter Class Air Tickets $8.00. Deposit required $108.00 at time of booking. Final Payment due no later than July Cost includes — Transportation from and return to Goderich — Clinton — Exeter — and Lucan. Round trip Air Canada Jet service to London. Accommodation for the duration of the tour. De Luxe Highway coach transportation in England — Wales — and Scotland. All sightseeing with Local guide lecturer: including admission costs. Tips for baggage handling and hotel personnel. THIS IS A LIMITED PARTICIPATION TOUR Reserve Now Through: EXETER TRAVEL CENTRE 451 Main St. Exeter P.O. Box 580 235-0571 itters W.G. THOMPSON & SONS LTD Wallop rootworms ®DI-SYSTON systemic insecticide, the organophosphate that wallops rootworms economically. An at-planting-time application of DI-SYSTON controls corn rootworms on contact, and the systemic action of DI-SYSTON extends control throughout the active rootworm larvae season. And DI-SYSTON won’t damage germinating corn seedlings. DI-SYSTON is available in two convenient formulations—liquid or free-flowing granular. Vapour-barrier bag reduces storage and handling odors, too. DI-SYSTON 15G application rate at 8 oz. per 1,000 feet of row. FURADAN® insecticide, the carbamate that’s unsurpassed for corn rootworm control. Best way to prevent corn rootworms from building up resistance to insecticides is to alternate from an organophosphate insecticide to a carbamate. And FURADAN is the carbamate to switch to. FURADAN is the systemic insecticide that kills corn rootworm larvae on contact and then is absorbed by the roots to provide long-lasting residual control. Hard, purple granules won’t bridge or cake in the applicator. FURADAN 10G application rate at 9-12 ox. per 1,000 feet of row. Row Spacing DI-SYSTON 15G lbs./Acre 30”8.7 34”7.7 36”7.3 38”6.9 40”6.6 DI-SYSTON I3 a Reg TM of Bayer AG. FURAOAN is a Reg TM of FMC Corp Row Spacing FURADAN 10G Ibs./Acre 20”15-20 30”10-13.3 34”8.8-11.8 36”8.3-11.1 38”7.9-10.5 40”7.5-10 HENSALL and GRANTON 262-2527 225-2360