Australian concerns about nation's power grid
AUSTRALIA - Australia's Ministerial Council on Energy is concerned about the viability and environmental impact of the country's electrical grid.
The Business Spectator reported that the Ministerial Council on Energy commissioned a review and subsequently concluded that the federal government's proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme, along with its commitments to an expanded renewable energy target, could result in the short term in electricity supplies being stretched beyond critical reserve levels as producers in the country's $9 billion national electricity market struggle to fulfill the new environmental mandates.
The report found that when the nation's power companies attempt to implement the new mandates the national grid was put at a higher risk of technical failure if as a consequence of the new legislation the nation's power stations would be required to operate differently after the new policies were introduced. The report accordingly recommends that the Ministerial Council on Energy be given enhanced powers during the transitional period, including expanding its ability to tender for major consumers to forgo power or feed their own power into the grid during a supply crisis.
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Manitoba looking to raise electricity rates 2.5 per cent each year for 3 years
WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is planning to raise electricity rates by 2.5 per cent a year over the next three years.
Finance Minister Scott Fielding says the increases, to be presented in a bill before the legislature, are the lowest in a decade and will help keep rates among the lowest in Canada.
Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro had asked for a 3.5 per cent increase this year to help pay off billions of dollars in debt.
“The way we figured this out, we looked at the rate increases that were approved by PUB (Public Utilities Board) over the last ten years, (and) we…
