INDEPTH: ENERGY
Timeline of power issues since the 2003 blackout
CBC News Online | June 28, 2005
June 27, 2005:
Ontario's power consumption hits a record 26,157 megawatts. The risk of outages in Central and Eastern Canada is high as temperatures reach the mid-30s. Ottawa-area residents experience a series of rolling blackouts. Hydro One spokesperson Peter Gregg says its Bilberry Creek Transformer Station near Winchester, Ont., could not handle the demand. Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's committed to protecting the province from striking Hydro One workers during the heat wave.
 An electricity tower near the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. (CP Photo/Adrian Wyld)
An American power workers union claims that a massive blackout had been averted one month before. The Maryland-based union represents 80,000 employees, including 1,000 Hydro One workers who were on strike at the time. They say that on May 27, two Hydro One computers suffered a brief malfunction, bringing Ontario and parts of the eastern United States within seconds of a cascading power failure. Hydro One acknowledges the computer error, but denies the system was vulnerable.
June 17, 2005:
Newfoundland and Labrador residents get ready for rate hikes after Newfoundland Power and Crown-owned Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro announce a 5.2 per cent fee increase. The Public Utilities Board says the changes are necessary to reflect high oil costs. Prices are determined by comparing current consumption to predicted future usage. The two companies say they will not profit from the hike.
B.C. Hydro kills plans for a controversial natural gas-fired electrical power plant near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The reversal stems from a court decision allowing environmentalists to appeal the B.C. Utilities Commission decision that allowed the project to proceed. Activists argued that the Duke Point power project would create additional greenhouse emissions, and that the island's electrical needs could be met by developing alternative energy sources.
June 6, 2005:
Ontario Hydro One workers go on strike after working without a contract since March 31. At issue is Hydro One's desire to hire employees for lower wages and smaller pensions. A few hours after workers go on strike, 2,900 people near Guelph lose power. It is later determined that a thunderstorm caused the blackout.
April 16, 2005:
Nova Scotia Power announces plans for a new wind plant that will supply energy to 4,000 area homes. The wind farm will be in Cape Breton and will include six turbines, located next to the company's Lingan power plant. Nova Scotia plans to increase the province's power supply by 25 per cent by the end of the year. The plant is expected to be up and running by the fall of 2007.
Feb. 17, 2005:
Final plans are approved for a gas-fired power plant south of Nanaimo, B.C. B.C. Hydro had planned to build its own plant at Duke Point but the B.C. Utilities Commission rejected that proposal and told Hydro to look to the private sector instead. The 262-megawatt plant will be called Duke Point and built by Duke Point Power Limited Partnership.
Nov. 15, 2004:
A snowstorm in Nova Scotia leaves 100,000 without power. The weight of the snow destroys six steel power transmission towers in the Dartmouth and Sackville areas, leaving some residents without heat for over 36 hours.
Nov 14, 2004:
A private company expresses interest in funding the $1.4-billion refurbishment at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick. Bruce Power is Canada's only privately-owned nuclear power company and operates six plants along the shores of Lake Huron. A coalition of environmental groups opposes the idea, saying the province would benefit more from wind and solar power, and conservation. As a counter-offer, the Atlantic Canada Energy Coalition unveils an alternative energy platform to produce 640 megawatts of power in New Brunswick over the next eight years at a cost of $630 million. That is less than half the $1.4 billion amount needed to refurbish Point Lepreau.
Nov. 5, 2004:
New Brunswick Power investigates the possibility of offering pay-as-you-go electricity to household consumers. Woodstock Hydro suggests the Smart Meter system to NB Power, saying customers typically use 15 to 20 per cent less energy than with traditional systems. Woodstock Hydro implemented the system in 1989.
Oct. 21, 2004:
A report urges Ontario to use more renewable energy. The paper by the David Suzuki Foundation, called Smart Generation: Powering Ontario with Renewable Energy, says the province is losing out on job creation and energy saving by not focusing on more environmental energy solutions. The report proposes an eight-year plan resulting in $14 billion in economic benefits and 5,000 jobs.
Oct. 18, 2004:
An Alberta-based wind power producer gets almost $25 million in federal government funding. The Summerview Wind Farm, near Pincher Creek, comes after a commitment to address climate change and support alternative energy industries. The $95-million facility has 38 wind turbines producing a total of 68 megawatts.
Aug. 25, 2003:
Public service employees head back to work. About 75 per cent of federal, provincial and civic employees in Ontario stayed home for one week following the Aug. 14 blackout.
Aug. 22, 2003:
Ontario Premier Ernie Eves lifts a provincewide state of emergency in effect since the major blackout hit parts of Ontario, Quebec and the eastern United States.
Aug. 16, 2003:
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and U.S. President George W. Bush announce that Canada and the U.S. will launch a joint task force to investigate the cause of the massive blackout two days before. The group will be jointly chaired by Canada's minister of natural resources, Herb Dhaliwal, and the U.S. secretary of energy, Spencer Abraham. It will gather information from all levels of government and the private sector.
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