Task force to study electricity needs

Energy Minister John Baird has announced an 18-member task force, less than 24 hours just after the agency that runs Ontario's power grid sent out an urgent warning about considering voltage reductions to keep the system from blacking out.

Baird said the task force will examine both electricity supply and conservation measures, and report early in 2004.

The group will be headed by Peter Budd, a lawyer and chairman of the Ontario Energy Association, and Gunars Ceksters, chief executive of Enersource Corp.

Among the members are executives from the province's biggest power producers and Rebecca Macdonald, chief executive of energy retailer Energy Savings Income Fund. Macdonald called Premier Ernie Eves a "complete lunatic" last November when he froze the price of electricity for consumers.

Baird said the task force will hold two day-long public forums to gather citizens' ideas.

Opposition politicians mocked the announcement.

"This is a joke," said Liberal energy critic Michael Bryant (St. Paul's). "This task force would have been a great idea when the government first came into office nine years ago. It's way too late in this government's mandate to get some kind of task force under way."

Consumer representatives are "conspicuous in their absence" from the task force, he added.

Howard Hampton, leader of the New Democratic Party, noted Baird unveiled a $4.5 million ad campaign to promote conservation as part of the strategy.

"This is simply an excuse for another government advertising campaign," Hampton said.

Keith Stewart of the Toronto Environmental Alliance said the task force is overweighted with electricity generators. "They don't have any strong advocate on the conservation and efficiency side."

The new focus on conservation is in contrast to the government's attitude only last year, when Jim Wilson, who was then the energy minister, brushed off the idea of mounting conservation programs.

"The private sector asked us to get out of large-scale government conservation programs," he said in an interview with Report on Business magazine. They "may have made the odd person feel good, but they had absolutely no effect."

That wasn't Baird's line yesterday.

"Our government has made conservation a priority," he said, pointing to the sales tax rebate the province gives purchasers of energy-efficient appliances.

Baird said the task force has been asked to write an action plan for attracting new generation, and to identify barriers to developing new supplies of power.