Ontario Hydro cancels pact with Manitoba Hydro; Conawapa project shelved
Ontario Hydro has canceled a contract to purchase electricity from Manitoba Hydro, paying a penalty fee of less than $150 million. The utility says the cancellation will enable it to save as much as $11 billion. Ontario Hydro canceled the contract in December after first seeking a five-year delay in implementing an agreement that called for Ontario Hydro to buy 1,000 MW of power for 20 years, beginning in the year 2000. The agreement had helped justify plans for construction of Manitoba Hydro's proposed 1,390-MW Conawapa generating station, once scheduled for operation in 2001. Ontario Hydro's decision to cancel the agreement, signed in 1989, puts Conawapa on the shelf for the time being, said Glenn Schneider, manager of public affairs for Manitoba Hydro. The project could proceed eventually if other export options emerge, or if domestic needs for additional energy develop within the province, he said. Schneider added it was not immediately known how the decision to shelve the Conawapa project would affect the review of the facility. An environmental review panel has already issued draft guidelines for how the utility should conduct an environmental impact assessment of the project. Ontario Hydro decided to cancel the contract after it learned it would be more costly to postpone the agreement than to terminate it. Ontario Hydro said Manitoba Hydro had sought concessions worth more than $300 million to defer the agreement by five years. In addition, Ontario Hydro has placed all non-utility generation contracts not yet approved on hold, pending the outcome of a review of short- and long-term supply needs and commitments. Ontario Hydro's Board of Directors earlier approved a plan proposed by the utility's senior management to reduce capital expenditures by more than $7 billion over the next ten years.
- OSTI ID:
- 6696951
- Journal Information:
- Hydro Review; (United States), Journal Name: Hydro Review; (United States) Vol. 12:1; ISSN HYREE8; ISSN 0884-0385
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Canada's large hydro: Progressing toward new megawatts
Jenpeg start-up underlines Manitoba power disputes
Related Subjects
130500* -- Hydro Energy-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
CANADA
CANCELLATION
CAPITAL
CONSTRUCTION
CONTRACTS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELECTRIC POWER
ELECTRICITY
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPENDITURES
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
MANAGEMENT
MANITOBA
NORTH AMERICA
ONTARIO
POWER
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES