Wind turbines at the White Pine Wind project can be seen near a farm in Milford, Ont., on July 12, 2018. The project was cancelled by the PC government that year.Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
Ontario has opened the door to new wind and solar power farms in the coming years, days after announcing two massive nuclear projects as the province prepares for electricity demand to potentially double over the next three decades.
The return to renewable energy projects appears in the government’s Powering Ontario plan, released on Monday, which says that the province will look to another round of electricity generation procurement in 2025-26 that will include “non-emitting energy technologies such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, and biogas.”
However, the report also says any new projects will need to have resolutions in support passed by local municipal councils and that Indigenous “participation and support” will be a “key feature.”
The Progressive Conservative government cancelled hundreds of wind and solar energy contracts when it was first elected in 2018, landing it in court and costing it more than $200-million, saying the previous Liberal government was wrong to lock in inflated rates for greener power. Plus, windmill farms in particular had also faced vehement local opposition in some areas.
Since then, environmentalists and opposition politicians have painted the government as anti-green power, noting that as the province’s nuclear reactors go offline for phased, multibillion-dollar refurbishments, Ontario will increasingly rely on polluting gas plants for electricity.
In the single biggest boost for nuclear power in Ontario in decades, Energy Minister Todd Smith last week announced that his government would work with privately owned Bruce Power to potentially build the first new full-scale nuclear power plant in Ontario since 1993, as well as three more small modular reactors (SMRs) on the site of Ontario Power Generation’s existing Darlington nuclear plant.
On Monday, Mr. Smith was in Windsor to unveil the rest of the government’s new power plan, designed to respond to a recent report from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) that said Ontario could need to spend $400-billion to decarbonize its power grid by 2050, while doubling its size to cope with new demands from electric vehicles and increasing electrification in other areas.
In an interview, Mr. Smith said conditions are different for wind and solar power from in 2018. His government’s procurement of new battery storage projects will allow for these projects to be more useful, even when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine.
But he defended his focus on nuclear power. The previous Liberals, he said, did not have to worry about rising electricity needs “because demand was flat in the province and jobs were leaving for other jurisdictions. This is the first time in 18 years that electricity demand is increasing.”
The rest of the plan includes calls for new transmission lines and better use of existing hydroelectric dams. And it calls for the IESO to review two proposed long-duration “pump-storage” facilities, one in Meaford and the other in Marmora. These are hydroelectric dams that can store water in reservoirs, pumped there with excess power produced during off-peak times, and then generate electricity with it when needed. The document also says Ontario should launch a new round of improved energy conservation programs.
Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, said the plan was flawed for treating renewable energy as an “afterthought,” with massive new nuclear plants still its focus.
“My big concern is that they are putting the cart before the horse when it comes to system planning,” he said. “They are announcing 6,000 megawatts of nuclear before they even start looking at energy conservation or renewables.”
Provincial Liberal interim leader John Fraser accused the government of being “asleep at the switch” after cancelling scores of green energy contracts in 2018, noting the recent report of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., which warned that Ontario faces a risk of a power shortfalls if extreme conditions were to hit this summer.
Peter Tabuns, the NDP climate action and energy critic, said the government’s plan was too scant on details and actual cost projections – and still manages to play down the lowest-cost options: solar power and energy conservation.
”For a lot of pages, with a lot of pictures, it’s a pretty thin report,” Mr. Tabuns said.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused Premier Doug Ford of having “grossly mismanaged” Ontario’s energy supply, while missing the boat on attracting the rush of global investment in renewable energy.
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.
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.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
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