“The two units at the Bruce A station and one unit at Pickering A will provide satisfactory
reserve margins for the summer months of July, August and September if they are returned
to service on schedule,” said Dave Goulding, President and CEO of the IMO.
Bruce Power has notified the IMO that key milestones are being met in the return to service
of Bruce A units 4 and 3 and they expect the units to begin producing electricity in April and
June respectively. Ontario Power Generation has also advised the IMO that the first
Pickering A unit is scheduled to begin producing electricity by the end of June. The three
units have a combined capacity of more than 2,000 MW.
Goulding cautioned that Ontario may face an increased reliance on power from other
jurisdictions if unexpected hot weather occurs in May and June before the scheduled
restart of two of the three nuclear units and through the summer if the units do not make
their targets.
The 18-month Outlook also notes that a new generating station in Sarnia is now producing
electricity, which will help deal with higher demands in the summer.
The IMO publishes the assessment of the reliability of the Ontario electricity system for an
18-month period every quarter. This outlook covers the period from April 2003 until
September 2004. The assessment is based on the IMO’s forecast of electricity demand,
information provided by Ontario generators on their projected supply and the latest
information on the Ontario transmission system.
The outlook considers two scenarios – An Existing Resource Scenario with no new
generation over the next 18 months and a Planned Resource Scenario that incorporates
the new generating capacity scheduled to be introduced into the Ontario market in that
period. The outlook also considers a variety of weather scenarios.
The report is available at: http://www.theimo.com/imoweb/pubs/marketReports/18MonthOutlook_2003apr.pdf
The Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO) is responsible for operating and
regulating Ontario's bulk electricity system and the wholesale electricity market.
