How Ontarians can take power back from big energy plants

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How Ontarians can take power back from big energy plants

Until now, it has generally been a one-way street: utility companies operating big power plants generate energy and distribute it to businesses and homeowners.

But more and more we are seeing customers generating, transmitting, and storing their own power, and in some cases selling it back to the grid. That was the message at a panel at the International Economic Forum of the Americas conference in Toronto last week.

Experts have a name for these small-scale activities: distributed energy. It’s a phenomenon that is growing rapidly in Ontario: This month, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) reported distributed energy now accounts for 3,600 megawatts of installed supply, up from practically nothing a decade ago.

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Are Ontario's transportation plans the rotary phone of infrastructure?

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Are Ontario's transportation plans the rotary phone of infrastructure?

The future of transportation is coming more quickly than we think.

Hyperloop One, a company developing technology to move people and cargo at tremendous speeds through low-pressure tubes, expects to build a commercial track and have paying passengers somewhere in the world by 2021.

A trip between Toronto and Montreal in a pneumatic tube transportation system would take just 32 minutes, Rob Lloyd, chief executive officer of Hyperloop One, told the International Economic Forum of the Americas conference in Toronto last week.

But it doesn’t appear the technology will be coming to Ontario, or even Canada, quite yet. Lloyd says his company has had a few exploratory discussions about bringing his technology to Ontario, but he wants the regulatory process to move faster.

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The Great Lakes need a new maritime strategy — and fast

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The Great Lakes need a new maritime strategy — and fast

Untapped economic potential and environmental concerns are the driving forces behind a new maritime strategy for the Great Lakes, the first of its kind.

“In order to remain competitive in today’s global markets, we need to improve and expand the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence maritime transportation system,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said when she announced the strategy along with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on June 15.

The Great Lakes regional economy was worth US$5.8 trillion in 2015 and would be the third largest economy in the world if it were a country, according to a recent BMO report. “The economic importance of the region can’t be overstated,” it says.

But not enough is being done to promote maritime transport in the region, says the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, the organization that produced the maritime strategy. The conference brings together the leaders from Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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How the Windstream Energy case affects Canada’s trade future

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How the Windstream Energy case affects Canada’s trade future

If a U.S. wind-power company has its way, the federal government could end up footing the bill for part of a costly and controversial Ontario energy initiative. The case could renew the conversation around international business conflicts at a time when two major trade pacts are awaiting ratification in Canada.

Windstream Energy, based in New York state, won a contract in 2010 to build 100 offshore wind turbines near Kingston. But less than a year later, the Ontario government halted all offshore wind-power development, claiming it needed more time to study the potential risks of such projects.

The company says the provincial government acted in “an arbitrary and political manner.” Rather than pursuing its case with the province however, Windstream is demanding $475 million from the federal government under a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement that allows companies to sue Canada over government measures that interfere with investments.

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