Ontario Power Generation Reports 2002 Earnings

TORONTO, ON -- Ontario Power Generation Inc. (“OPG”) today reported its financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2002. Earnings for the year were $47 million or $0.18 per share, compared with earnings for the year ended December 31, 2001, of $152 million or $0.59 per share.

OPG’s 2002 results are below those of the same period last year due to a number of factors. These included a provision for transitional price relief to certain power customers upon market opening of $140 million, staff restructuring charges of $101 million, and additional expenditures related to the Pickering A return to service project of $82 million. These factors were partially offset by higher energy prices of $97 million and the gain on sale of the Mississagi River stations and other investments of $128 million.

“In Ontario, the electricity market opened to competition on May 1, 2002. OPG’s generating assets played a significant part in meeting record Ontario demand levels in the summer.” said OPG President and CEO, Ron Osborne. “Throughout the year, OPG maintained its focus on its core strategies.

We successfully met the challenges of the opening of Ontario’s electricity marketplace. We continued to pursue our strategy of operational excellence by increasing electricity production at existing facilities and moved forward with the sale of four hydroelectric stations as part of our mandated decontrol requirements. Organizational structure was further optimized by implementing a corporate restructuring initiative and outsourcing a number of non-core activities. We undertook environmental improvement initiatives including the installation of emission reduction technologies at two fossil stations. OPG is confident that its core strategies are realistic and attainable and will deliver long-term shareholder value,” said Osborne.

Ontario Power Generation is an Ontario based company, whose principal business is the generation and sale of electricity in Ontario and to interconnected markets. Our focus is on the risk-managed production and sale of reliable electricity from our competitive generation assets. OPG’s goal is to be a premier North American energy company, while operating in a safe, open and environmentally responsible manner.