Ontario power use down from last year

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Efforts to save electricity are starting to pay off, with Ontarians consuming less this year than in 2005 despite the growing economy, says the province's conservation czar.

Peter Love, Ontario's chief energy conservation officer, recently announced the province used 2.5 per cent less electricity in the first eight months of 2006 compared with the same period last year.

"Energy efficiency... is happening. We have made a start," he told a Queen's Park press conference, noting the peak demand for electricity has fallen by 950 megawatts since 2004.

Emphasizing that was "weather-corrected," meaning the warmer winter and cooler summer did not cause the decrease, Love said the change is proof of the effectiveness of the provincial government's fledgling strategy to reduce power use.

In actual consumption, Ontarians used 3.3 per cent less electricity, but when adjusted to account for shifting weather patterns, it's a 2.5 per cent saving, he said.

Each of us used an average of 8,096 kilowatt hours of electricity from January to August, down from 8,303 kilowatt hours over that same eight-month period in 2005.

"There's a buzz. I think people have heard it from their local utilities, they've heard from their neighbour, they've gotten stuff in the mail, they've seen (hydro) price increases, they remember the blackout," he said, referring to the 2003 blackout that crippled Ontario and the northeastern United States.

Love hopes to reduce usage by an additional 1,350 megawatts next year, and believes the Liberal government's target of 6,300 megawatts of peak electricity savings by 2025 can be achieved.

"Obviously, we have much more to do," he said.

In his 72-page annual report, Love noted changes made last June to the Ontario Building Code to improve energy efficiency will save an additional 550 megawatts over the next eight years.

But he also made 17 recommendations to achieve greater savings, including further promoting green technologies, continuing to match California's top-notch standards for energy efficiency, increased use of more efficient windows, and reviewing land-use policies to establish density requirements in housing developments to curb urban sprawl.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton said the real reason consumption is down is because paper mills and other plants are closing in northern Ontario.

"The loss of 136,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs, plus the loss of another 25,000 forestry-related jobs in the north, is not energy efficiency and conservation, it's wrong-headed policy," said Hampton.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, who created Love's $270,000-a-year post (excluding a bonus of up to $40,000) dismissed the New Democrat's criticism as "bunk."

"The economy is growing," said Duncan, maintaining he was "encouraged" by the conservation chief's findings.

"I think we're going in the right direction," he said, adding the province would be announcing more conservation measures in the months ahead. He touted the use of smart-meters, which will allow consumers to gauge their electricity use to save money at off-peak hours.

"We have a ways to go," the minister said.