Liberal Government Pricing Scheme Won’t Stop Huge Price Increases
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The PWU Disagrees With Government Policy To Shut Ontario’s Coal-Fired Stations
“The Liberal Government’s decision to set the price of generation from Ontario Power Generation will not stop the significant electricity prices that will happen when the province’s coal generation is shut down as scheduled in 2007,” Don MacKinnon, President of the Power Workers’ Union said today in response to announcements that OPG generation rates would be set by the Government.
“While the recent announcement provides price stability for Ontario industry, other customer groups in Ontario – residential consumers, commercial, small business and agriculture – will have to pay for the Government’s plans to shut down reasonably-priced coal generation and replace it with higher-priced renewable and gas fired-generation. Coal generation costs about half of the 8 cents per kilowatt hour that the Government has agreed to pay for new wind and water power.”
“Studies continue to show that the best way to keep electricity prices low in Ontario is to invest in coal station upgrades to dramatically improve emissions, just like other jurisdictions are doing. The shut down of coal stations will only lead to higher prices and compromised reliability.”
The PWU disagrees with the Government policy to shut Ontario’s coal-fired stations down. These coal stations provide 25% of the province’s power and are particularly important for meeting peak electricity demands.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), on the other hand released the first comparability report on emissions data from over 1000 individual fossil-fuel power plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The report, North American Power Plant Air Emissions, is a first step towards the possible development of a shared emissions inventory for North America.
The study found a small percentage of facilities release much of the electricity sector’s sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions in North America. These emissions are known to contribute to acid rain, haze, smog, and climate change, as well as toxic mercury found in fish and eaten by people.
“This report shows that, site by site, coal-fired power plants are the dominant source of harmful air emissions from the electricity sector in North America,” says William Kennedy, Executive Director of the CEC.
The PWU believes that government should ensure existing generation stations operated by Ontario Power Generation are fully utilized. That means investments in existing nuclear, hydroelectric and coal generation for maintenance, rehabilitation and research into new technologies.
For the coal stations specifically, investments should be made to install proven emissions control technology on existing stations at a price considerably less than building replacement generation, an approach that will prevent electricity prices from increasing for residential, commercial, business and agricultural customers.
The Power Workers’ Union add that research into the implementation of clean coal technology should be accelerated to provide opportunities for continued use of coal as a fuel for new plants built at existing Ontario Power Generation sites.
While coal combustion accounts for only 44 percent of electricity on the continent, it is responsible for 86 percent of total sulfur dioxide emissions from electricity and 90 percent of nitrogen oxides. The vast majority of mercury emissions from electricity generation in each country also come from coal combustion.
@ February 23, 2005