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Tag Archives: gas plants

Are Ontario wind power subsidies keeping Florida bills low? (Yes)

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

electricity bills Ontario, FIT, Florida Power and Light, gas plants, gas-fired power plants, hydro bills, natural gas, NextEra, NextEra Energy Inc, Ontario Power Authority, renewables, subsidies for wind farms, subsidies for wind power, wind power developers Ontario, wind power Ontario

Ontario: keeping Florida’s fossil-fuel power bills low

Florida: plenty of natural gas-fired power. No wind
Florida: plenty of natural gas-fired power. No wind

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the largest subsidiary in NextEra Energy Inc’s portfolio with 4.7 million customers, is doing a fantastic job of keeping their rates low.  In fact they have had declining rates for a few years as noted in this post from one of their webpages:  “Bills Are Decreasing – Again!  Since 2009, FPL’s typical 1,000-kWh customer bill has decreased by 7 percent. And in January 2015, FPL expects to decrease the typical residential customer bill by nearly $2 a month.”

While the FPL customers can currently consume 1,000 kWh a month at an all-in price of 10.2 cents/kWh, rates in Ontario have been increasing at about 10% annually.   That 1,000 kWh purchased from Toronto Hydro will set you back $169.00 (65% higher) versus $102.00 from FPL.   The natural and first inclination is to believe that it is probably due to their sources of electricity and perhaps their efficiency levels; while the latter is probably true (they claim 8,900 employees versus the 20,000 plus we have in Ontario) their sources of electricity only include a passing nod at renewables and then only “solar” which seems reasonable in the Sunshine State!  The pie chart showing FPL’s “Fuel mix & purchased power” indicates at least 75% of electricity supplied to their ratepayers is fossil fuel-based.  Solar provides just over a half of 1%!

NextEra power sources: barely a nod to renewables in the U.S.
NextEra power sources: barely a nod to renewables in the U.S.

Look at the parent company, NextEra: it generates electricity from wind turbines where the company can find subsidies.  They rushed to Ontario to snap up at least six Ontario Power Authority (OPA) contracts with a rated capacity of just over 482 MW (megawatts).  A quick calculation of that rated capacity discloses Ontario’s ratepayers will pay a lot of money to NextEra over the next 20 years, which NextEra can use to either pay dividends to their shareholders, or allow some of the revenue used to keep rates low in the Sunshine State for Canadian “Snowbirds.”

The 482 MW of rated capacity should produce power at 29% of capacity, which means they should generate about 1.2 million MWh (megawatt hours).  The equation therefore is as follows:  482 MW @ 29% X 8760 hours in a year X $135 per MWh x 20 years = $3.2 billion.  That means revenue per FPL customer of about $35 per year. If only $2 finds its way to FPL’s customers, it will help to keep the rates down.

Ironically, Ontario’s Snowbirds pay much higher rates at home; no wonder Canadians own more property in Florida than citizens from the next five nationalities combined! Too bad their winter electricity bills will be waiting for them when they get back home.

©Parker Gallant

October 23, 2014

The views expressed are those of the author.

Reposted from Wind Concerns Ontario http://www.windconcernsontario.ca

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Leaders’ debate: making the government record stick

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

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Andrea Horwath, gas plants, Kathleen Wynne, leaders debate, Ontario, Ontario election, Ontario election debate, Scott Stinson, Tim Hudak

Ontario election debate: Hudak and Horwath try to make ‘corrupt’ Liberal record stick

Scott Stinson | June 3, 2014 9:29 PM ET

More from Scott Stinson | @scott_stinson

Premier Kathleen Wynne spent the early part of the Ontario leaders’ debate apologizing for her party’s “mistakes” in the billion-dollar gas-plant scandal, as an election issue that has largely been overlooked in the month-long campaign quickly returned to the forefront.

Responding to the first of six questions submitted by viewers in the only debate of the six-week campaign, one that asked how the Liberals could be trusted, Ms. Wynne said the decisions made “were wrong” and “public money was wasted.” Rather than pivot away, the Premier said that there had been “a breach of trust,” but “I have apologized for that.”

It was a perfect opening for NDP leader Andrea Horwath, who was able to begin her remarks in the 90-minute televised debate by saying “the Liberals have betrayed you.” How the Liberals could be trusted, she said, was “the actual question of the evening.”

Ms. Horwath, as did PC leader Tim Hudak later, pushed Ms. Wynne to explain why, as a member of Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet, she didn’t “say no” to the decision to cancel two gas-fired power plants at what turned out to be a $1.1-billion cost to the public.

“I am so sorry that public funds were wasted,” the Premier replied. “I have taken responsibility for being a part of a government that made mistakes.”

It was an impossible start for Ms. Wynne, and a subject for which there is no good answer, but even still she struggled to not sound guilty. “I’ve said that the decisions weren’t right,” she said. Mr. Hudak responded by saying that if the Liberals are re-elected after having apologized for getting caught, “they’re going to do it again.”…

Read the full story here.

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