OPA asked to explain missed deadline

OPA IPSP Compliance highlights a dispute before the Ontario Energy Board over the Integrated Power System Plan, Green Energy Act impacts, supply mix directives, public consultation, and long-term energy planning transparency and accountability in Ontario.

An Ontario electricity ratepayer has asked for the Ontario Power Authority to be hauled on the carpet for failing to file an over-all electricity system plan.

In a letter to the Ontario Energy Board, Parker Gallant complains that the power authority has broken the conditions of its license by failing to file an integrated power system plan. IPSP.

Gallant notes that the power authority OPA had filed its first system plan August 29, 2007, and was required by its condition of license to file an update within three years. It has not done so.

That means the OPA "flagrantly and without notice, much less explanation," broken the terms of its license from the energy board, Gallant writes.

That breach "creates a major transparency and accountability gap in Ontario's power system," he argues.

Gallant wants to call officials of both the OPA and the energy board in front of a formal hearing to explain the breach.

Kristin Jenkins of the OPA said that the authority will file a response to Gallant's complaint.

She noted that the original 2007 system plan was put on hold by then-Ontario energy minister George Smitherman in 2008, when he introduced the Green Energy Act.

The OPA was then required to deal with the Act's new requirements, and to contract for 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy contracts, she said.

But Gallant said the license conditions still apply.

"I want them to file their new IPSP before the end of this year," Gallant said in an interview.

All indications are that the OPA is delaying its 20-year plan and is many months away from filing a new plan.

In late September, energy minister Brad Duguid opened a public consultation process on energy. The results of those consultations, plus a "supply mix directive" from the government will be sent to the power authority, probably by the end of the year.

A supply mix directive sets guidelines for how much electricity should be produced by various sources such as nuclear plants, natural gas plants, and renewable sources like wind and water power, and a recent report cautions against radical change in the sector as these guidelines evolve.

Duguid then wants the power authority to use the directive to produce what will now be called a "long term energy plan" even as calls to simplify Ontario's electricity system persist, which must still be reviewed by the energy board. Critics fear the process will carry on past the provincial election date of October 6, 2011.

In a preliminary reply to the energy board, the OPA has proposed that the requirement for three-year deadlines for filing plans should be eliminated.

But Gallant's complaint has drawn support from the City of Toronto. In a written submission, the city says that the OPA's proposal for no fixed timelines makes it difficult for the city to plan its own conservation, renewable generation and other infrastructure projects even as the power lobby challenges OPG on broader system issues.

Gallant, a retired banker, says he became interested in the power system when the electricity bill at his cottage skyrocketed. He has since joined the board of Energy Probe.

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