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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-02-04, Page 5Wednesday, February 4, 2015 • News Record 5 www.clintonnewsrecord.com letter to the editor More wind power will increase hydro rates Hon. Bob Chiarelli, Minister of Energy 4th Floor, Hearst Block, 900 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M7A 2E1 Mr. Bruce Campbell, CEO, Inde- pendent Electricity System Operator 1600420 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 1T1 Ms. Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor Gen- eral of Ontario 20 Dundas Street West, Suite 1530, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C2 Ontario electricity rate payers continue to watch with alarmed dis- belief as their hydro bills skyrocket. The media repeatedly show exam- ples of adverse impacts to our man- ufacturing industry, commercial enterprise, agricultural viability, and of families forced to choose between paying utility bills and buying gro- ceries. As an organization repre- senting a dozen municipalities, we are very disturbed at the rapidly increasing cost of electricity. Much of this increase must be attributed to the introduction of renewables—particularly wind energy. A policy to rapidly install wind turbines as a major part of the Ontario electrical scene was rushed through without adequate analysis or examination, justified by an ide- ology rather than a comprehensive business case. The government over -generously contracted to pay renewable energy producers signifi- cantly higher rates than the market price. Our electricity has now become the most expensive in North America, seriously threaten- ing our prosperity. Ontario's Auditor General has pointed out that we pay twice for wind energy. Its intermittency and unpredictability prevent it from being a dependable base load source of power. Since it is mainly produced at times and seasons of low demand and is frequently una- vailable during peak consumption it is a mismatch for Ontario's energy needs. The variability of wind makes it necessary to maintain an alternate source of generation available for when wind drops, especially during the increasing morning demand. When the oversupply of wind energy is not needed at night, other base -load generators such as hydro and nuclear have to be curtailed, but maintained available to return to service when wind generation falls. The requirement to build and supply gas generators which can be run up when wind output falls has already added significantly to con- sumer bills. These costs will increase as more already contracted wind turbines become operational. How wasteful is wind energy? • When variable wind is added to other steady base load generators, it can result in unutilized base load generation on many nights. The sys- tem operators must either curtail generation, or sell excess generation at prices below the cost of produc- tion, or both. Should Ontario elec- tricity consumers be subsidizing New York and Michigan? • Because the ideology -based pol- icy gives preference to wind, the wind power is only partly curtailed. What is happening far too often now is that cheaper, non -0O2 producing nuclear and hydraulic base load generators are being curtailed: nuclear units are dumping steam and hydraulic generating stations spilling water. Curtailment costs are substantial and they are increasing each year. Now IESO has issued a RFP to add another 300 MW of wind power Why was no action taken when the Auditor General's 2011 report specifically warned of all these mis- management issues? Ontario needs an economically viable energy pol- icy, not one based on unrealistic ideology. We are calling on the Government of Ontario and the IESO to make a sober re-evalua- tion of the damage current energy policy is doing to our economy. We believe spiralling electricity costs urgently need to be halted. We are requesting full objective third -party cost -benefit analysis before there is any further pro- curement of wind or solar capac- ity. We stress that it is incumbent on the IESO and the Government of Ontario to ensure that electric- ity procurement contracts are awarded to the lowest cost pro- vider capable of aligning real time generation with the requirements of the Ontario grid. We would appreciate your expedient response to this letter. Yours truly, Mark Davis, Deputy Mayor, Munici- pality of Arran-Elderslie Chair, Multi - municipal Wind Turbine Working Group EARLY FILES February 8, 1968 A Brussels area youth will appear in Huron County Court at Goderich in connec- tion with the armed robbery of the Brucefield branch of the Bank of Montreal, January 3. Robert Stewart Smith, 20, of R. R. 4, Brussels, was arrested Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Detective -sergeant, George Herries, of Mount Forest detachment OPP, who has headed the investigation, said Smith was apprehended through the cooperation of OPP and Buffalo and Mem- phis FBI agents. Smith was taken into custody at a motel in Nashville. A search for the suspect had been conducted in Ontario and the U.S. since a tone masked bandit bran- dishing a sawed-off shotgun, made off with $9,144 in cash in the daring mid-morning heist. FBI detectives said about $3,000 in Canadian currency, $70 in U.S. funds and $350 in travelers' cheques were recovered. February 10, 1977 The University of Guelph Rural Development Outreach Project (RDOP) has announced the selection of Huron County as its first pilot area. RDOP director Tony Fuller states Project represent- atives will begin working in Huron County this year. The RDOP staff describe Huron as being the most balanced county to represent a tradi- tional rural area. Through the RDOP, explains Prof. Fuller, the University of Guelph hopes to contribute to the process of rural development in Ontario by sharing more of its resources with rural people. The Project was initially funded in September of 1975 by a $557,350 grant from W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. The purpose of this seed money, says Prof. Fuller, is to find out what a uni- versity community can do to meet the needs of rural people and whether or not such a type of program should be part of a university's role. February 3, 1982 Last weekend saw some unexpected visitors at the Legion. The stormy weather caught a bunch of people who were attending a hockey tour- nament in town, and about 70 displaced souls bunked down at 140 for Sunday night. We're pretty lucky to have a spot available for an emergency such as this. Even though it wasn't "home,' it was at least warm and comfy while the storm raged outside. As far as the rest of the week was con- cerned, everything went along at a normal pace. Men's euchre saw E. Kerr win top honours with a high score of 86. G. Louch won lone hands with 5 and J. Watson picked up low score with a 52. In darts, Joyce Scott and Al Pennie joined forces to win high couple, while Brenda Bottema and Brian Atkinson muddled through to come in last. Phyllis Butler won high ladies score with a 119 while Art Burt showed men how it is done with a 117. February 7, 1996 Beth Amos, the mother off Blyth Festival's Artistic Direc- tor Janet Amos, died on Wednesday, Jan. 31, while attending a performance of Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder at Toronto's Royal Alexander Theatre. In a Toronto Star interview this past weekend, Janet Amos acknowledged the sadness of her mother's passing, but also the appropriateness. "It really is a gift that she actually passed gently away watching a play at 'her' theatre. We horribly miss her, but we're just thrilled that it happened this way." In addi- tion to appearing in Blyth's Quiet in the Land, the 80 -year- old veteran of stage and screen had roles in Disney's Incredi- ble Journey, Police Academy, Jake and the Kid, Miracle at Indian Creek and Canadian Bacon. Stage credits include performances at the New Play Society, The Crest, Young Peo- ple's Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre, The Straw Hat and The Red Barn. February 5, 2003 Daryl Hemingway called Saturday's Space Shuttle Columbia disaster one of great sadness but said it's important for the space pro- gram to continue. The Holm- esville native worked at the Johnson Space Center in Houston until August where he managed spacewalks that are performed on the Inter- national Space Station. When his contract was fin- ished he left to pursue a combination engineering and management degree at MIT in Boston. He was on an international business expe- rience in Brazil when he learned of the disaster last Saturday. NASA controllers reported a loss of communi- cation with Columbia last Saturday morning - just 16 minutes before it was sched- uled to land in Florida. Min- utes later eye witness reports said two sonic booms were heard followed by a trail of debris and fire that streaked across the sky.