City councillor offers advice to Ontario energy minister

The era of one, two and three cent power are long gone. While I agree that the prices guaranteed by Ontario are way too high, solar and wind are the future along with conservation being first.
Maurice shows his lack of knowledge about coal power generation. There is no such thing as clean coal. There is cleaner coal because of scrubbers but coal plants are Ontario's worse polluters.
The other myth is that natural gas can be used instead of solar and wind. While natural gas is preferable to coal, conservation is preferrable to all power generating systems.
It's funny how Maurice is pushing natural gas as a clean alternative on a grand scale yet he as chair of the public transportation committee here in Orillia has said nothing about using it as fuel for our transit buses and all city vehicles? Me thinks Maurice is trying to pull the wool over our eyes claiming he is somehow concerned about the environment.
China has become the leading generator of solar and wind energy. Germany is second followed by most European countries. The US is now seriously playing catch up. We have an opportunity here to cash in on the paradigm change in energy generation. Maurice will make us miss the opportunity if we take him seriously.
Let's face it, Maurice is a one issue guy and even that issue he can be tripped up on, showing that his knowledge is more than limited. Anything more complicated than water driving a wheel and Maurice is lost.
jim tolnai

And yet water driving a wheel is what provided Ontario with hydro for multiple decades. You might remember Niagara Falls? Where they just completed a new tunnel to transport more water through the turbines. Bala Falls is the next waterway to provide power in the region. Maybe we should upgrade our poor little water wheel too. Renewable and eco friendlier then all the rest.

Yet increased usage out strips production. Without flooding huge areas there is not enough water to push the wheel. Bala used to generate power. in fact there is a little picnic area right in the center which has a plaque about it. Hydro for some reason closed it down years ago. Good for them if they are now going to harness each and every opportunity.
Imagine flooding a vast area of cottage country for hydro power. How much of our local economy would be wiped out with that move?
There are hundreds of smal opportunities which were shutdown over the years because of scale. They all need to be upgraded and used. But we need to harness the wind and solar which has unlimited opportunity.
If we could reduce our usage by just 10% that would make this thread mute. So let's cut back and see what happens. Remember the days when you were rewarded with a price decrease the more you used? Well today you are penalized the more you use. The world has indeed changed. Now we need to progress in this changed environment.
jim tolnai

Re: City councillor offers advice to Ontario energy minister
I read with interest the Letter to the editor authored by Councillor Maurice McMillan and, while I can appreciate his perspective, I must point out a number of inaccuracies in the information that appears to have contributed to his view. Mr. McMillan contends that new waterpower does not replace coal generation. In fact, as the primary flexible renewable resource in Ontario’s supply mix, waterpower (both existing and new) is critical to responding to hourly, daily, weekly and seasonal electricity demand – a role similar to that played by coal. This flexibility will become increasingly important as the province moves away from coal and integrates other forms of intermittent renewable generation. The letter also suggests that in 2002 our Association was involved in transferring assets to the private sector and that the generation from these assets is being paid between 43 and 80 cents a kilowatt hour. Both these statements are inaccurate. I believe the “transfer” the Councillor is referring to is a commercial transaction by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), one for which the shareholder (in this case the province) would have received compensation (“This sale provides good value for OPG, the shareholder, employees and the community” - Ron Osborne, President and CEO, OPG– March 8, 2002). As for the prices paid for un-contracted, non-OPG existing waterpower production, the correct figure, as reported by Orillia Power Corporation in its press release of January 28, 2010, is a guaranteed minimum price of 6.2 cents per kWh for a period of twenty years – a significant value for this renewable, reliable, responsive generation. Given that the City of Orillia, like many other municipalities across Ontario, had the foresight to invest in waterpower generation and is the beneficiary of this investment, I would have expected a better informed letter by Councillor McMillan.

Paul Norris
President
Ontario Waterpower Association