Hydro’s plans worry Ontario consumers

Industrial electric power users in Ontario are worried that provincial government policy could result in serious power shortages or onerously expensive electricity by the mid-1990s. Speaking to a recent gathering of the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario (AMPCO), Frank Pickard, president and chief executive officer of Falconbridge Ltd., warned that “the wrong policy decision now will affect us for a decade or longer.” The government has pledged to funnel $240 million, formerly earmarked for nuclear energy planning and development, into conservation measures.

“The government and advocates of this course of action have to be very careful. It could be disastrously, ruinously wrong,” said Pickard.

Falconbridge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Noranda (TSE), has much to lose should power costs rise significantly. Last year, for example, it spent nearly $83 million on electrical power to keep its Sudbury smelter and Timmins, Ont., metallurgical complex operating.

Ontario Hydro, however, will not be spending money on new power plants, nuclear or otherwise. Its spending over the next few years will focus on “environmental stewardship,” according to Robert Franklin, president and chief executive officer of the provincial power utility.

As examples he cited planned purchases of scrubbers for fossil fuel plants, refurbishing of transmission lines and the older hydroelectric stations, and spending on the re-tubing of nuclear power plants.

“We won’t produce one new kilowatt of power, but we will be producing cleaner ones,” he told the gathering. “New electrical energy in the 1990s will have to come from energy efficiency.” Jenny Carter, minister of energy, gave details on her government’s proposals for conserving energy. The prime target for such programs will be residential and commercial users, she told the AMPCO members.

For major power users such as Falconbridge, Ontario has become the second most expensive province in which to operate. In terms of cents-per-kilowatt-hour, Ontario’s electrical power costs rank second behind Nova Scotia’s.