Author Archives: Other News Sources

(April 22, 1993) Thank you, Mayor June Rowland, for hosting this panel discussion, and for giving me the opportunity to discuss public and private power systems – a subject that has long been near and dear to Energy Probe. As many of you know, Energy Probe has been promoting a diversified – public and private – energy system for more than a decade now, and we’re delighted to see that so much of the world is moving in that direction. Continue reading →

(March 10, 1993) The man has performed miracles since taking the helm of the continent’s most inefficient utility barely three months ago. Think of the challenge before him last December: an organization that needed 24% more staff than Canada’s other utilities to produce a kilowatt hour of power. Wages and benefits that averaged $69,000 per person. Tottering nuclear plants that needed billions in repairs. The Darlington nuclear plant, $10 billion over budget. Continue reading →

(March 18, 1992) Thank you. You can’t know how heartening it is for me to see the MEA holding this conference, with privatization issues. so prominent. Just one year ago, most people considered many of the issues at this conference to be all-but-irrelevant to Ontario In fact, when the Environ mental Assessment Board examining Ontario Hydro’s 25-Year-Plan decided to hear evidence from Energy Probe about privatizations occurring around the world, the MEA objected, and even went to Court to try to stop the Board from hearing our views. Continue reading →

(February 11, 1992) I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Committee’s pre-budget consultation hearings, because this next budget is sure to be one of the most widely watched events in Ontario history. This province, as all parties will acknowledge, is in economic difficulty, and no easy answers appear to be in the offing. I am coming here with some easy answers. Continue reading →

(January 22. 1992) I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments to the Power Corporation Act, because this Act has had a profound effect on the Ontario economy. Each of you should have a copy of a study entitled .Cross Border Electricity Rates: Ontario’s Loss of Competitiveness.. I would like to ask you to turn to the first graph, which compares Toronto electricity rates to the U.S. average. Until 1978, the U.S. and Ontario had very similar electricity structures, both being monopolized sectors. Continue reading →