Business

Ontario launching ‘ultra-low’ overnight hydro rate targeting EV users

Published

1 year ago

April 12, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a new Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park

Some Ontario ratepayers will soon be able to opt into a new electricity rate structure that will give them cheap power overnight in exchange for a higher on-peak price.

The “ultra-low overnight plan” is targeted mostly at electric vehicle owners who want to plug in at night when demand is low. It will be available to customers of Toronto Hydro, London Hydro, Centre Wellington Hydro, Hearst Power, Renfrew Hydro, Wasaga Distribution, and Sioux Lookout Hydro May 1, and the rest of the province in the coming months.

Energy Minister Todd Smith was on-hand to make the announcement at Toronto Hydro’s headquarters Tuesday.

“This ultra-low rate, which is offered alongside a higher on-peak rate, is possible because when customers shift their electricity use to overnight periods — such as a homeowner who chooses to charge their electric vehicle overnight, a family that electrically heats their home, or a shift worker who isn’t home during normal peak hours — we can make better use of excess electricity that previous governments sold at a loss,” he said.

“In fact, the ultra-low overnight price plan could put up to $90 back in the pockets of these customers over the course of a year, while at the same time providing potential capacity cost savings for the electricity system, up to $5.7 million per year savings that would reduce bills for all Ontario ratepayers.”

Rates are set by the Ontario Energy Board. The new “ultra-low overnight plan” would set the overnight right at 2.4 cents per kWh, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., compared to the current off-peak rate of 7.4 cents per kWh under the current time-of-use plan, which will remain available.

Under the new ultra-low overnight plan, the on-peak price would be 10 times higher than the overnight rate — 24 cents per kWh — giving users an incentive to refrain from intensive consumption until night. That is significantly higher than the on-peak price of 15.1 cents for the current time-of-use plan, and 8.7 cents for customers on a tiered plan. The mid-peak and weekend rates for those on the new plan would be the same as those on the currently available time-of-use plan.

Anthony Haines, the president and CEO of Toronto Hydro, said if the program is successful at pushing EV charging off of peak hours, it would help his organization defer some of the capital requirements that will be needed to add additional capacity to the grid. He likened a large-sized electric vehicle being plugged in at the end of the workday to nearly the equivalent of adding another house on the grid — a particularly acute problem on a hot summer day when the demand on the grid is at 100 per cent.

He said the “aspirational” climate goals of all levels of government will require greater electricity demands and Toronto Hydro is doing long-term planning for investments in its infrastructure to be able to meet net-zero by 2050 and the first five-year phase of that plan to support decarbonization will be going to the Ontario Energy Board this fall.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to clarify the timing of the program rollout.

Source link

Business

Image Is Everything; Hence, Your LinkedIn Banner’s Importance

Published

12 hours ago

September 30, 2024

Nick Kossovan

Why do I keep seeing LinkedIn profiles with an empty banner and/or no profile picture? Are these people oblivious to the importance of a first impression, or do they just not care?

You, I, and everyone judge; hence, we live in a judgemental society. Your image, which shapes how people view you, is everything.

You can’t claim to be a serious job seeker if you’re not taking advantage of LinkedIn’s visual opportunities to optimize your profile to make a strong impression. When it comes to social media content, visuals are scrolling-stoppers. Aside from your profile picture, your LinkedIn banner is the first visual people see.

View your LinkedIn banner as a billboard strategically placed at street level, which you can use to capture the attention of passersby who may have a potential opportunity. (In a previous column, I wrote that opportunities exist all around you; the caveat is they’re attached to people.) Advertisers spend a great deal of money to have billboards with a captivating visual and compelling message, making the point that billboard advertising is a good investment for driving traffic to their offerings. Your LinkedIn banner—your billboard—is free, so why not use it to market yourself to employers?

If your LinkedIn banner is currently blank, hopefully, you’re now convinced that leaving it blank is likely costing you job search and career opportunities, and you no longer want to leave it blank. Here are instructions on how to create a LinkedIn banner using Canva, a user-friendly graphic design tool that offers various customization options.

Step 1: Create a Canva account

Canva offers both free and paid plans. Their free plan is more than adequate to design your LinkedIn banner. Go to Canva’s website and sign up using your email address or social media account.

Step 2: Choose the LinkedIn banner template

In the Canva dashboard, type in ‘LinkedIn Background Photo’ in the search bar at the top to find a LinkedIn banner template. Canva offers a variety of pre-made templates—as I write this, there are 7,203 LinkedIn banner templates (Canva Pro)—that are optimally sized for LinkedIn, which is 1584 x 396 pixels. Alternatively, you can use Canva to create your LinkedIn banner from scratch.

Step 3: Customize the template

Here’s where the fun begins; experimenting with all the templates and conveying your message to employers. Canva provides an interface that allows you to customize your banner template in multiple ways.

Edit text: Click on the text elements in the template to change them. You can modify the text, fonts, colours, and sizes to match your personal brand or professional style. Ensure that the text is concise, relevant, and legible.
Add elements: Shapes, lines, icons, illustrations, and other design elements, which Canva offer a wide variety of, can be included in your banner. When used strategically, these will make your banner more visually appealing and emphasize specific aspects of your personal or professional brand.
Upload your own images: Nothing will personalize your LinkedIn banner more than incorporating your own images, such as a picture of you in your work environment or enjoying your hobby, a logo or any other relevant images, into your banner.
Change the background: You can change your banner’s background to reflect your profession, industry and personality. Canva offers a multitude of colours, gradients, and images, allowing you to create an eye-catching, scroll-stoping background.

If you’re actively job searching, consider adding your contact information and, at the risk of adding fuel to the ongoing LinkedIn’s #OPENTOWORK green banner feature, announcing you’re looking for your next opportunity or available ‘for hire.’

Step 4: Maintain consistency

When designing your LinkedIn banner, ensure it aligns with your personal brand and harmonizes with your profile picture. Consistency in design and branding is critical to creating a strong professional image on a social media platform. It’s important to avoid having your profile picture’s colour conflicting with those in your banner and vice versa.

Step 5: Review and adjust

Before finalizing your LinkedIn banner, take a moment to review your design. Check for any typos, ensure the banner is eye-catching, and convey the message you want to send to your LinkedIn network and hiring managers. Your banner should show your intention and indicate that you’ve taken a thoughtful and strategic approach to your profile.

Step 6: Download your new LinkedIn banner

Once you’re satisfied with your banner, click the download button in the upper-right corner of Canva’s interface. You’ll be prompted to choose the file format; select PNG for the best image quality. Once downloaded, your banner can be uploaded to your LinkedIn profile.

Similar to how advertisers run campaigns for a period of time, updating your LinkedIn banner every quarter is an effective way to get noticed. Aside from updating your banner to reflect different aspects of your abilities, you may also want to consider updating your banner image to reflect a relevant seasonal or holiday theme—autumn, Thanksgiving, Christmas or whatever holidays you celebrate. A visually compelling banner isn’t just an accessory; it’s a powerful tool in your job search arsenal, especially since, more than ever, image is everything.

_____________________________________________________________________

Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

Business

TD Bank to pay more than US$28M in settlement for market manipulation

Published

13 hours ago

September 30, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – TD Bank Group has agreed to pay more than US$28 million after an investigation into manipulation of the U.S. Treasuries market by one of its traders.

The deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice has TD agreeing that a former employee created a false appearance of supply or demand in the market by placing bids or offers, only to cancel them before completion.

The agreement says hundreds of so-called spoof orders were placed, amounting to tens of billions of dollars of false supply and demand, in an effort to artificially increase the market prices of those products.

The resolution comes as TD is also soon expected to settle a sweeping investigation into shortcomings of its anti-money laundering program that the bank expects will cost it more than US$3 billion.

The agreement on the spoofing case has TD paying about US$12.6 million in civil penalties. It also faces US$9.4 million in criminal penalties, which court documents say is the statutory maximum, plus US$4.7 million in victim compensation and US$1.4 million in forfeiture.

TD says it takes regulatory and employee conduct violations very seriously, and that it reported the employee and fired him and has since enhanced its monitoring and compliance capabilities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)

Source link

Business

Suncor Energy pleads guilty to charges for 2019 injury on oil vessel off Newfoundland

Published

4 days ago

September 27, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Suncor Energy has been fined $90,000 after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a worker injury in 2019 aboard its production vessel in an oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland.

In a news release Thursday, the province’s offshore oil regular said the company must also give $20,000 to the College of the North Atlantic’s health and safety management program.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board says Calgary-based Suncor pleaded guilty on Sept. 5 for failing to ensure the safety of its employees and failing to ensure its employees wore a safety harness attached to a lifeline while inside a confined space.

The board says a worker fell 7.6 metres from a safety ladder while testing for hydrogen sulfide in a ballast tank on the floating production and storage vessel in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield.

An agreed statement of facts says two emergency response workers then went into the tank to tend to the fallen man, and they were not wearing gas masks.

Suncor Energy is the majority owner of the Terra Nova oilfield, and it reported net earnings of $1.57 billion in the second quarter of this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

Source link