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[Ontario] Energy policy unintelligible – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 30, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

IT is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to understand Ontario’s energy policy. No more so than in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario where the policy is marked by fits and starts instead of a stable program for reliable electricity that grows with demonstrated need.

Ontario is short of revenue and it is at times short of electricity. More electricity can and will lead to more revenue, both in terms of general economic development and through taxation. The recent Ambassadors study by Lakehead University demonstrated clearly that if just the nine most promising mining projects in this region proceed, $135 billion will be spent and $17 billion will be paid in taxes, a third of it to Ontario.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the new Northwestern mining boom can be the economic driver for all of Ontario. But it must have the electrical power on hand to run things.

As this newspaper reported Wednesday, as part of its responsible clean-air goal to phase out coal-burning power plants, Ontario drew up plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating Station to natural gas.

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Fight to keep power plant far from over – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 29, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Thunder Bay’s Liberal MPPs continue their fight to keep the Thunder Bay Generating Station in the energy mix in Northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro said Wednesday that he believes the plant conversion from coal-fired to natural gas can still happen.

“I think it can be salvaged,” he said. That’s despite an Ontario Power Generation decision to cancel a Union Gas contract, at a cost of more than $5 million, that would have tied the power station to the utility’s pipeline system.

Mauro said “if the conversion goes forward, those costs will not be lost, just included as part of the project. “It’s my belief that this will happen. The money will become part of the project. “I feel this is a cost-effective project, for our future it makes a tonne of sense,” he said.

“The cost of conversion is minimal compare to the value of the asset (of the Thunder Bay Generating Station).” Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle agreed, noting that Energy Minister Chris Bentley has made it clear that the suspension of the conversion plan is a pause in the process.

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Power plant costs pile up – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 28, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The bills are piling up amid failed attempts to convert the coal-fired Thunder Bay Generating Station to alternate fuels. The Chronicle-Journal has learned that Ontario Power Generation has cancelled a contract with Union Gas, at a cost of more than $5 million, that would have tied the power station to the Union Gas pipeline system.

The project was integral to converting the coal-fired plant to burning natural gas as fuel. Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson said Tuesday that the Liberal government has now spent $20 million on its on-again, off-again plans to convert the Thunder Bay GS from coal to natural gas.

“If the government’s going to spend $20 million, they should walk away with something more than the bill they hand ratepayers,” Bisson said. “Instead of building responsibly to meet our province’s electricity needs, this Liberal government spends whatever they need to meet their party’s needs at election time.”

Bisson noted that the conversion of the Thunder Bay plant from coal to gas has been started and stopped twice. Conversion of the plant was announced in 2005 but the plan was cancelled in 2006. In August 2011, work started again, but it stopped this month.

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You’ll have energy, McGuinty tells NWO – (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Ontario’s premier is reassuring Northwestern Ontario residents that the region will have all the energy it needs, regardless of the eventual Thunder Bay Generating Station outcome.

The station’s conversion to run on natural gas has been put on hold by the Ontario Liberals, because the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) says there are better, and cheaper ways to power the North.

Halting the conversion, the OPA said, will save $400 million, and required power can be generated from other sources, such as southern Ontario via an expanded east-west tie-line. The government has not made a final decision about the conversion, as the OPA is still finalizing its alternative plan.

“The issue for us is not whether we have the power in place to meet those energy needs,” Premier Dalton McGuinty said in Thunder Bay on Thursday. “It’s, what’s the best way to do that? “I think everybody wants us to act responsibly in that regard.”

McGuinty said the conversion project was paused because the “experts are telling us that this is the best way to do it at this point in time.”

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North pays for OPA mess: Hampton – by Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is trying to solve southern Ontario problems at the expense of the North with its push to halt the Thunder Bay Generating Station’s conversion to natural gas, the former leader of the provincial NDP said Wednesday.

“I don’t think the OPA is thinking about Northwestern Ontario and what’s good for the Northwest,” Howard Hampton said Wednesday.

“I think they’re thinking about solving some of the problems they’ve created in south and eastern Ontario. They’re thinking more about that, and using Northwestern Ontario as a piece of the puzzle.”

The Ontario government, at the behest of the OPA, has put a hold on plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating Station from coal-fired power to natural gas. The OPA has said halting the project will save $400 million, and the region’s power needs can be met by other means, such as the to-be-expanded east-west tie-line that moves electricity between Northern and southern Ontario.

And while the government has not cancelled the plant conversion — Energy Minister Chris Bentley is waiting to see the OPA plan before making his decision — the hold has representatives in the region sounding the alarm.

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Let’s not buy a power plant – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal editorial (November 15, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

THE devolution of central government has seen municipalities forced to pick up responsibilities and costs on many fronts. We don’t need more. Ottawa has been offloading programs onto provinces and “downloading” has become a dirty word in Ontario where municipalities with limited local tax bases have been expected to take on everything from selected health care to courtroom security.

Social services are legislated by the province but the costs that are apportioned over every municipality in Thunder Bay District are staggering for some. In order to secure a new regional hospital, Thunder Bay taxpayers voted to assume $25 million of the cost. This week, Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs resurrected the idea of buying the provincial power plant located on Mission Island. Let’s not. Instead, let us insist the province fulfill its mandate to supply electricity.

As part of widespread cost-saving measures, the Ontario Power Authority is considering cheaper methods of providing electricity to Northern Ontario. It claims it can supply all the power needed — including that for a new mining boom — by expanding the main east-west transmission line. Closing the Thunder Bay Generating Station would save $400 million, OPA says. Local officials scoff at this notion and insist that planned conversion of the coal plant to natural gas is essential if the region is to provide all the power needed to feed dozens of existing and pending mines.

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[Thunder Bay] City talks power plant purchase – by Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 14, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

If plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating Station to natural gas from coal fall through, the City of Thunder Bay would look into buying the plant, Mayor Keith Hobbs said Tuesday.

The province announced a hold on the conversion project, saying the Ontario Power Authority says the region’s energy needs can be met for much cheaper if the plant is shut down.

The OPA has yet to reveal its plans, but if they result in the plant’s closure, Hobbs said the city will examine whether it’s possible to purchase the plant and keep it running. “If we hear that that plant would be mothballed, I think that’s the time to go into those discussions,” he said from Toronto.

Hobbs was among a delegation who met with Energy Minister Chris Bentley in Toronto on Tuesday. The possibility of buying the plant did not come up, Hobbs said.

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[Thunder Bay] Gas plant delay needs explaining – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 9, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

EVERY once in a while an issue arises with such profound implications that virtually everyone involved pays attention. These things can even cause politicians to go against their own governing party line, though that is all too rare. Both events have occurred in Thunder Bay after the Ontario Power Authority called off conversion of the city’s coal-fired power plant to natural gas.

The conversion, part of the Liberal government’s abandonment of coal-burning generating stations in the interest of cleaner air, was already delayed once, reportedly incurring a penalty of $5 million. Put back on track by the province, this second suspension comes despite the need for a secure local power source for an imminent mining boom that is poised to rescue the region’s flagging economy, create as many as 13,000 area jobs and produce an estimated $16 billion in tax revenue for all three levels government.

The suspension also comes despite personal assurances by Energy Minister Chris Bentley, as recently as August, that the conversion would proceed. Bentley says he wants to allow the OPA time to prove its claim to be able to save up to $400 million by mothballing the plant (a number that astonishes local officials) and make up the lost power from other sources. It’s a plan the region needs to hear, and soon.

Decentralizing the old Ontario Hydro was supposed to produce a leaner, more accountable electricity regimen in Ontario. But soaring costs for power, and for delivering it, have soured many Ontarians on the process which, by this second suspension of work at Thunder Bay, appears even more confused.

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OPA wants to clear the air [NAN and Solid Gold] – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 9, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Prospectors Association says it wants to meet with high-ranking aboriginal leaders to clear the air after it was accused this week of supporting “radical and racist” tactics at a Sudbury exploration conference.

“We believe there has been a total misunderstanding about this, and we want to sit down and talk with NAN (Nishnawbe Aski Nation),” OPA executive-direct Garry Clark said Thursday from Sudbury.

Clark, who is based in Thunder Bay, emphasized that his organization is anything but racist, and said he was taken aback by the allegation.

“We’re an organization that promotes the province as a place for (mineral) exploration,” he said, noting the Sudbury conference included presentations by aboriginal representatives. About $1 billion worth of mining exploration occurred in Ontario last year, “mostly conflict-free,” among companies and First Nations, Clark added.

An uproar occurred Wednesday afternoon when NAN held a news conference at the conference to denounce what it sees “as a racist media campaign against the Wahgoshig First Nation.”

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Mine plans will rely on markets: Cliffs – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 6, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The prospect of a large-scale chromite mine in the Ring of Fire — as well as new power and road infrastructure expected to go along with it — still seems do-able even as the main proponent ponders a less-than-rosy market outlook, possible time-line adjustments and a partner, leaders of an affected community say.

But the fact that Cliffs Natural Resources may yet again postpone its proposed production date is discomfiting. “It’s definitely a concern when they push (the date) back a second time,” Greenstone Mayor Ron Beaulieu said Monday.

“I mean, we met with Cliffs from day one, and they told us they had a production date set (2015) which seemed written in stone.”

Beaulieu added: “I still think it’s a viable project that will eventually come to fruition.” Cliffs spokeswoman Pat Persico said Monday that “officially we are working towards the end of 2016,” but the production date could be pushed “beyond 2017.”

Persico said the Cleveland-based iron ore giant remains committed to having a feasibility study and environmental assessment review for its Ring of Fire project completed by next year.

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Thunder Bay Power plant shocker – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 4, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

JUST when Northwestern Ontario had some wind in its sails — bam! — the penny-pinching province becalms mining-related momentum by suddenly cancelling the conversion of Thunder Bay’s electricity generating station from coal to gas. There are a whole raft of questions still to come, and there might well be good answers to them. But for the time being, this plan looks hair-brained.

First, it flies in the face of the province’s vaunted coal phase-out policy built on converting newer plants in order to keep the lights on in various regions. Converting Thunder Bay Generating Station to natural gas and Atikokan to biomass is a central plank in the clean-air platform. Atikokan is still proceeding but it will only produce 20 megawatts at the best of times.

Thunder Bay GS would produce 700 MW from gas. Removing that capacity from the grid would leave the Northwest destitute for electricity just when it needs a lot of it to power the new mining boom, area leaders said Friday at a news conference punctuated with expressions of dismay.

The energy minister cautions this is temporary — for now — while the Ontario Power Authority prepares a new plan for the North built around a doubling in capacity of the east-west tie line to 600 MW.

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[Thunder Bay power plant] Gas conversion on hold – by Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 3, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The fate of the city’s OPG power plant will be clearer in a few months, the province’s minister of energy assured Friday.
Regional representatives were caught off-guard Thursday when the provincial government announced a hold on its plan to convert the plant so that it runs on natural gas instead of coal.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) — which is in charge of Ontario’s long-term power system planning — believes the loss in power generation could be made up elsewhere, and mothballing the local plant would save taxpayers up to $400 million (that number was highly disputed on Friday, however).

“If the plans will provide those power needs and save money, then we’ll take a look at them,” Ontario Energy Minister Chris Bentley said in an interview Friday. “If they won’t, then the conversion is back on.

“Look, anytime anybody tells me they can do something and save up to $400 million, they’ve got my attention. But right now, I’m at the ‘show me’ stage, and that’s why we’re waiting for the more-detailed approach and plan.”

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NEWS RELEASE: OPA Decision Puts Mining Growth at Risk [Northwestern Ontario]

Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA)

For immediate release: Friday, Novemver 2, 2012

THUNDER BAY – The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announcement that they are suspending further work on the Thunder Bay Generating Station gas conversion is being met with anger and frustration by the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA). The announcement is a result of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) informing OPG that it “needs to explore other options for energy supply in the northwest” despite personal assurances by the Minister as recently as August that the conversion would proceed.

For many years, NOMA and its partners have made energy a top priority in our meetings with Government. We have been calling on the OPA to undertake proper energy planning in the Northwest including repeated requests to meet with Northwestern Ontario leaders and experts to discuss the comprehensive energy needs of the region. These requests have fallen on deaf ears and this decision is an unfortunate example of the consequence.

“How dare the OPA ignore specific government direction by causing further delays to the Thunder Bay Generating Station conversion!” said NOMA President Ron Nelson. “These actions jeopardize the conversion and also put at risk billions of dollars of investment in the mining sector by raising concerns that the required power may not be there when it is needed.”

“Why is OPA determined to turn off the lights in our region?” questioned Nelson. “Why is the Ontario Government letting this happen?”

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Cliffs in early stages of EA (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 25, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Cliffs Natural Resources is conducting an environmental assessment of mining activity in Northwestern Ontario as part of the potential Ring of Fire mining development.

While it is still too early to determine any negative impacts mining activity might have on the environment, Jason Aagenes, director of environmental affairs at Cliffs, said Wednesday the company is still in the early stages of an ongoing process.
“We have been collecting baseline data for a number of years,” Aagenes said.

“We will be starting the actual environmental assessment in the upcoming months.” The environmental assessment is collecting baseline data on the main aspects of the environment, including biological, physical and human, as well as traditional knowledge.

It is being conducted in consultation from First Nations and municipalities. It will examine environmental impacts of the four main components of the project, including the mine to be built near McFaulds Lake, an ore processing facility near the mine, the transportation system and the ferrochrome production facility.

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[Marathon’s palladium] Mine on track for 2016 start – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – October 22, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The new Stillwater Mining Company executive spearheading the company’s proposed copper and palladium mine on Marathon’s outskirts says the project remains “fully funded” and on track to meet the previously announced production start-up date of 2016.

Stillwater Canada president Terry Ackerman, who is based in the company’s head office in Billings, Mont., was in Thunder Bay and Marathon last week to attend three open houses about the Marathon project.

Ackerman said the company hopes to have completed an ongoing environmental review into the project and obtain necessary operating permits by 2014. Construction at the proposed mine site just north of Marathon’s airport is expected to take two years and require 400 construction workers.

About 360 full-time miners are to be required once mining operations are underway. Ackerman, who was previously Stillwater’s vice-president of corporate development, replaces former Marathon project general manager Stan Emms. Ackerman said Emms has moved on to other projects.

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