3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, August 21, 2009 Hydro bills will rise to pay for $20.5-M transformer station By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Oakville residents can expect their electricity bills to go up 2.27 per cent in late 2011 to cover the costs of building a $20.5 million transformer station. Town Council recently approved Oakville Hydro's request to design, build, own and operate the facility following a presentation in which Oakville's precarious energy supply was discussed. "The growth that is anticipated in north Oakville requires additional supplies of electricity. We can't accommodate those supplies out of the existing four (transformer) stations so we have to do something," said Alex Bystrin, president and CEO of Oakville Hydro during his presentation to council. "That something is that somehow we have to get additional capacity." Oakville Hydro's multi-year study predicts 200 megawatts worth of new load will develop in the area north of Dundas Street between Tremaine Road and Ninth Line over the next 25 years. The study also finds that if that development proceeds as predicted, Oakville will need new capacity to provide that area with electricity by 2012-2013. The slowing of the economy has done nothing to mitigate this need. "We've looked at the projected growth, normalized, we've looked at what would happen if the growth is delayed because of the economic conditions, we've looked at loss of load -- we have had a couple of industrial customers who have left the systemso we've looked at that as well," said Bystrin. "All of the indications and results of those evaluations are that we need more transformation capacity here in Oakville." Bystrin noted the possible building of a 900-megawatt gasfired power plant in the Oakville area will do nothing to alleviate this problem as a power plant generates electricity, but does not distribute it to those who need it. That distribution is what the transformer station is for and as such having a power plant nearby means nothing if a system is not in place to direct the power it cre- "The growth that is anticipated in north Oakville requires additional supplies of electricity." Alex Bystrin, president and CEO of Oakville Hydro ates. Bystrin also noted the need to get another transformer station established is especially pressing because Hydro One is currently experiencing technical difficulties with a number of the stations they operate in Oakville. In the case of the Oakville Transformer Station, Hydro One has scaled back its electricity output by 26 megawatts due to a design flaw found in two of the station's transformers. Output restrictions have also been placed on the Bronte Transformer Station as a result of transmission problems. This reduction in service only serves to further reinforce the need to bring additional voltage transformation to Oakville, said Bystrin, who also pointed out the alternative to this facility is rolling blackouts, which would probably begin in 2012-2013 when demand for electricity outpaces the ability of the existing transformer stations to provide it. For the actual building of the transformer station council was given two choices. The first option would see Oakville Hydro build the facility itself at a cost of $20.5 million with the facility expected to begin service by the spring of 2011. Option two would see Hydro One build the facility at a cost of $31.5 million with the facility expected to begin service by the spring of 2012. Under this option, Oakville Hydro would also have to contribute $18.6 million of the $31.5 million total. In the end, council decided to go with the cheaper, faster option. When asked about the considerable price difference, Mayor Rob Burton noted that among other things Hydro One pays its employees many times the salary of Oakville Hydro's employees. Whatever option was chosen, Bystrin noted, the ratepayers of Oakville would have to pay for the facility. Under the option chosen by council, Oakville Hydro will build the facility in 2011 after which a rate hearing will be held to determine what Oakville Hydro's new rate can be set at. Bystrin noted the rate would need to be raised 2.27 per cent to cover the cost of building the $20.5 million facility, but could not say how long the rate would stay like that. The option would also see the majority of that money paid back to the ratepayers over time. "If we were to own this new station, we don't have to pay certain fees to Hydro One. So we get to keep these fees and these fees by regulation we have to refund to the customer," said Bystrin. "That's about $16.5 million, but that's a bit in the future, that's over the 40 years of the life of that asset." The new transformer station is expected to be built just north of Hwy. 407 in the vicinity of Ninth Line. Raitt says government committed to improving energy efficiency Continued from page 1 "We have some 10 billion tones of coal reserves and we are the world's number one producer of uranium from Saskatchewan...Carbon fuels are a very important part of our nation's well being and will continue to be a part of our nation's well being for the decades to come." With that said Raitt pointed out that while demand for these resources is going up, with countries like China and India requiring greater energy sources, the supply of carbon fuels are not. For this reason, Raitt said, the government is focusing on energy efficiency. "We have in this country something called the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation," said Raitt. "The Government of Canada is working with companies across the country to develop and implement ideas that help cut energy consumption and as a result in 2006 alone Canadian industries saved $3 billion in energy costs and avoided making more than 37 metric tones of greenhouse gas emissions. That is a huge accomplishment." Another program Raitt pointed to as evidence of the government's desire for greater national energy efficiency was the $300 million Home Retrofit Program, which was part of the government's Economic Action Plan. Since the program was launched in 2007, homeowners have reduced their annual energy costs by an average of $500. Raitt said making entire communities more energy efficient is the next step in this process with federal, provincial and municipal governments all working towards creating a `Road Map for Action' that would see new developments and existing communities fitted with integrated energy solutions. While Raitt said carbon fuels were needed to keep Canada an economic power, she also pointed out that there was a place for renewable energy, which she said is needed to fill the gap created by the desire to cut back on carbon fuel consumption. To that end, Raitt said, the Government of Canada has committed to having 90 per cent of Canada's electricity needs met by non-emitting energy sources by 2020. "Just to contrast what that means, in the UK they have made the promise that they are going to try and get to 30 per cent non-emitting by 2020 and we're pushing for 90 per cent," said Raitt. "We must balance our need for energy and the economic activity that it generates and we need to play our part in the protecting of the global environment and we are moving on this. We are moving on this quickly and we are moving on this decisively. This is not just an environmental necessity, it's an economic necessity." 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