Ontario will see a historic investment in new power plants
and transmission lines, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan says, but no
one is making any promises about lower electricity rates.
Duncan says it could cost $40 billion to replace the
province's coal-fired plants when they are shut down by the
target of 2007 and to shore up ailing nuclear plants.
"We are looking at a massive investment of capital going
forward.
"Suffice to say that it could well be one of
the largest peace-time investments in the history of this country,"
Duncan told a news conference yesterday.
His announcement came a day after Ontario Power Generation reported
a $491-million loss, wrote off the value of its coal-fired
plants and released a damning audit of its operations.
The news set off alarm bells about energy costs and
reliability because OPG controls about 80 per cent of energy
production in the province.
But Duncan said his plan will head off massive rate
increases and potential blackouts when the heavily-polluting coal plants --
which account for about 32 per cent of OPG's generating
capacity -- are taken offline. Source.
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