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Extreme cold: Threat of rolling blackouts eases after Albertans warned to conserve power

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AESO projected the Alberta power grid would face a 100-200 MW shortfall of electricity during peak evening hours Saturday.

The threat of rotating power outages eased late Saturday only hours after Albertans were warned to reduce electricity usage as brutally low temperatures, which sparked a days-long extreme cold warning, continue to wreak havoc.

“Albertans are asked to immediately reduce their electricity use to essential needs only,” stated a release from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), issued alongside an Alberta Emergency Alert around 6:45 p.m. “Reducing peak electricity demand through province-wide conservation will minimize the high potential for rotating outages (Saturday) evening.”

The statement said AESO projected the Alberta grid would face a 100-200 MW shortfall of electricity during peak evening hours.
Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf followed the alert with a statement of his own, explaining: “extreme weather in Saskatchewan and British Columbia is impacting electricity sharing, which is also a contributing factor.”

Neudorf called on Albertans to:

  • Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances;
  • Minimize the use of space heaters; delay the use of major power-consuming appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers;
  • Delay charging electric vehicles and/or plugging in block heaters;
  • Cook with your microwave, crockpot or toaster oven instead of an electric stove or oven;
  • Limit the use of kitchen or bathroom ventilation fans;
  • Work on a laptop instead of a desktop computer;
  • Unplug electric appliances when not in use, as they continue to drain energy even if they’re off (or use a power bar to cut power to multiple appliances with a single button);
  • Close curtains/shades/blinds to cover drafty windows.

“Albertans have a history of pulling together in times of emergency,” Neudorf said in the statement. “If we all make small changes like those listed above, we can keep each other safe through another extremely cold evening.”

Shortly before 9 p.m., AESO shared a message on social media thanking Albertans for their efforts to reduce power consumption.

“Your conservation efforts quickly reduced electricity demand and the risk of rotating outages,” AESO wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

A few minutes later, the operator of the province’s electrical grid said its alert had ended.

The current cold conditions led to Alberta breaking a power consumption record on Thursday, while a power grid alert was also issued Friday.

 

Man killed after vehicle collides with snowplow in northeast Calgary

One man died after his vehicle collided with a snowplow to start a weekend in Calgary still plagued by extreme cold.

The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Friday when a Jeep collided head-on with a snowplow in the 3600 block of Westwinds Dr. N.E.

“As the road began to curve, the driver of the Jeep failed to negotiate the curve and entered the path of the oncoming snowplow, resulting in a fatal collision,” city police said in press release.

Said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux: “There was quite substantial damage and fire … the single occupant of the (snowplow) wasn’t injured but the sole occupant of the SUV was deceased at the scene.”

Westwinds Dr. between 54 Ave. N.E., and the entrance to McKnight-Westwinds LRT station was closed for several hours following the death of the 27-year-old man.

Speed is being investigated as a factor, say police.

Almost as life-threatening is the extreme cold caused by a polar vortex that’s plummeted windchill temperatures below -40C — a weather system that descended on the city mid-week.

The average high temperature for this time of year is -3C.

Extreme cold conditions place emergency medical services ‘on high alert’

EMS, meanwhile, continues to be busy dealing with victims of the arctic temperatures, responding to 60 weather-related calls since Tuesday morning, said Brideaux.

That’s 20 more than the tally as of Friday morning, he said.

“We’re on a high alert and certainly concerned about the welfare of the vulnerable population, especially people unhoused or living rough,” he said.

Many of those calls involve frostbite affecting people’s extremities and the possibility of hypothermia, said Brideaux.

“Hopefully, this cold abates in a little while — at -40C, it’s another world and we work in this just like everyone else,” he said.

Emergency homeless shelters are at more than 90 per cent capacity, an official with the Calgary Homeless Foundation said Friday, with some of the unhoused population choosing to sleep on the streets due to safety concerns in the facilities.

But the foundation’s Matt Nomura said social agency workers are making the rounds to homeless encampments “ensuring safety and a compassionate approach asking, ‘how do we get you off the street.’ ”

“But there are individuals making the choice to sleep rough.”

Daniel Boccalon, left and Renato Takata with the Salvation Army serve warm soup and coffee in the organization’s warming station outside the Southland CTrain station on Thursday. Photo by Gavin Young /Postmedia

Environment Canada has maintained an extreme cold warning with windchill temperatures expected to dip to -43C Sunday morning with a high reading of -37C during the afternoon.

“Frostbite in minutes,” said the federal agency’s website.

Temperatures are expected to rise to -18C Monday and rebound to -7C Tuesday.

But temperatures around -30C on Saturday continued to bedevil motorists who navigated icy streets and, in any immobilized scenarios had to abandon hope for a swift rescue.

Commuting and travel continue to be impacted by deep freeze

The Alberta Motor Association reported that drivers needing a tow or winching would have to wait 96 hours, while a battery boost or tire change wouldn’t be possible for 84 hours.

The bitterly arctic conditions continued to wreak havoc at the Calgary International Airport with its departure schedule as of 3:30 p.m. Saturday showing 14 cancelled flights — all involving WestJet — and 28 delays.

That’s an improvement over Friday afternoon when there were 38 cancelled flights — most of them WestJet aircraft — and 23 delays.

So frigid were conditions that de-icing procedures in a host of Western Canadian cities, including Calgary, weren’t possible, said WestJet.

“Due to ongoing extreme cold weather conditions targeting Canada’s prairie region and winter storm system that moved through Ontario yesterday evening, WestJet continues to face significant operational impacts cascading throughout our network,” WestJet spokeswoman Madison Kruger said in a statement Saturday.

“Additionally, to ensure safety above all, we continue to limit the amount of time our crews and ground partners are working outside, while frigid temperatures leave essential equipment such as bridges and fuel stations, inoperable.”

Travellers are being advised to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.

It’s so cold WinSport has extended its suspension of operations at its ski-snowboarding hill until Monday due to the frigid conditions.

And some Calgary businesses are freezing their activities, including the Deane House Restaurant in Inglewood, which posted on X on Saturday they’re “temporarily closed due to damages incurred during the extreme cold temperatures.”

 

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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