Let the wind blow free, not for profit
"Under the McGuinty government's Electricity Restructuring Act, enacted in 2004, our publicly owned and controlled power generator - Ontario Power Generation (OPG) - was barred from bidding on the development of new, green power generation," said coalition spokesperson Paul Kahnert. "The province is denying its citizens the right to benefit from what nature provides us."
The many advantages of public power generation include the ability of public institutions to borrow money for new development at lower cost than the private sector. Higher borrowing costs combined with the need to make a profit mean higher electricity costs for consumers, both residential or business.
In addition, Kahnert said, public power generation can provide consumers with at-cost electricity or reinvest profits in effective conservation programs.
"Profit-making is the antithesis of conservation," he said. "If the province intends to move more quickly toward increased wind power, it must allow OPG to participate in the development of new generation projects on behalf of the people of Ontario for the benefit of the people of Ontario."
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TORONTO - An investigation into a mistaken alert warning of an incident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station will be completed fairly quickly, Ontario's solicitor general said.
Sylvia Jones tapped the chief of Emergency Management Ontario to investigate how the alert warning of an unspecified problem at the facility was sent in error to cellphones, radios and TVs across the province at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
"It's very important for me, for the people of Ontario, to know exactly what happened on Sunday morning," said Jones. "Having said that, I do not anticipate this is going to be a long, drawn-out investigation.…
