Coal plants keeping the lights on

Nuclear power shortage forces province to rely on pollution-spewing system

TORONTO — A temporary shortage of electricity from nuclear reactors in Ontario is forcing the province to run its coal plants longer to keep the lights on, causing a spike in greenhouse gas emissions and a potential headache for Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Electricity output from the province’s four pollution-spewing coal-fired plants rose 19 per cent during the three-month period ending June 30, compared with the corresponding period a year ago. Greenhouse gas emissions climbed in lockstep with that increase.
The province has been forced to rely on the coal plants for more of its electricity production because of the unplanned outage of two reactors at the Pickering nuclear station. Pickering A units 1 and 4 have been down for maintenance since early June and are expected to remain offline for another three weeks as work continues on a backup electrical system, Pierre Charlebois, chief operating officer of Ontario Power Generation, said yesterday. The government’s power utility owns and operates three nuclear stations and supplies 70 per cent of the province’s electricity.

“We are dealing with a one-time situation right now and that has to be rectified,” Mr. Charlebois told reporters.

The province’s fragile electricity system is expected to be a major issue during the campaign for the Oct. 10 election. Mr. McGuinty promised during the 2003 campaign that he would shut down the province’s coal-fired plants by the end of 2007 and replace them with cleaner sources of electricity. But he has twice backtracked on that pledge and now says the coal plants will not disappear until 2014.

The Globe and Mail