Ontario Power Agencies Confirm 2002 Power Market Opening

The Independent Electricity Market Operator and the Ontario Energy Board released a joint statement revising earlier market readiness plans to accommodate later testing of wholesale and retail interests.

The board's schedule extends retailer self-testing to mid-December from October.

The IMO said it would start live operational testing - the last market readiness test - in February 2002 rather than in November as announced this spring.

"We now have the plan that will lead all industry players to market readiness," Dave Goulding, president and CEO said in a statement. "It is imperative that the dates in today's plan be achieved by all involved."

Ontario, Canada's most populated and energy-hungry province, originally planned to open a competitive electricity market by November 2000. Opening day has since been delayed twice.

In May, Premier Mike Harris indicated that the province will open a competitive power market by May 2002. The uncertainty of opening day chilled some investors' ardor to build or expand generation plants in Ontario, such as TransAlta Corp.