Insights
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Samsung Renewable Energy Deal: An Update
August 2011
Earlier in August, the Ontario Government released further details of its agreement with Samsung to build 2,500 MW of wind and solar generation. Aegent has updated its assessment of the cost of the deal. Read more >>
Demand-Side Management: Role of Natural Gas Utilities
August 2011
With energy conservation and efficiency topics of considerable attention since the Ontario Government's Green Energy Act, Aegent thought it would be interesting to look at how the province's natural gas utilities fit into the picture. Read more >>
Google's PowerMeter May Be a Cautionary Note
August 2011
The discontinuation of Google's online home energy monitoring tool called PowerMeter may be a cautionary note concerning Ontario's push for smart meters. Read more >>
Reallocation of Global Adjustment Costs: An Update
June 2011
A new mechanism is in effect for allocating costs from the Global Adjustment. For large Class A consumers, their share depends on their electricity use in peak hours. Smaller Class B consumers pay the costs not paid by Class A. Aegent has updated its assessment of the impacts of the reallocation. Read more >>
TransCanada Mainline Tolls: What's Next?
June 2011
Mainline tolls for TransCanada PipeLines have been interim since the start of 2011. TransCanada has asked the National Energy Board to approve a set of final tolls for the current year, but that request is still under consideration. The application has generated discussion about next steps to address the uncertainty around Mainline tolls for 2011 and beyond. Read more >>
Ontario Electricity Carbon Intensity: How Does It Measure Up?
May 2011
One measure of an electricity system's "greenness" is its carbon intensity. Despite all the talk of "dirty coal", Ontario's electricity system might be greener than many people think. Read more >>
Ontario's Electricity Policy Environment Eerily Similar to TOPGAS Era
May 2011
In the early 1980's, the interplay of high energy prices and a slowing economy resulted in more gas supply being offered to TransCanada PipeLines by Alberta producers than was needed by TransCanada to satisfy demand. TransCanada's obligation to take the gas or pay for it anyway led to TOPGAS. Elements of Ontario's current electricity policy environment seem eerily similar to the TOPGAS era. Read more >>
Wind and Nuclear Power: As Different as Chalk and Cheese
April 2011
The March 11 earthquake in Japan and the subsequent nuclear disaster have catalyzed opposition to nuclear power generation in many jurisdictions, including Ontario. Some commentators have suggested nuclear power should be replaced by a more benign source, such as wind. But wind and nuclear power are as different as chalk and cheese, and not practically interchangeable. Read more >>
Natural Gas Market's Response to Fukushima
April 2011
Examination of the price behaviour of natural gas futures contracts since the March earthquake in Japan provides insights into how markets respond to these kinds of crises. Market participants seem to be increasingly of the view that gas supply and demand conditions a few years from now will be tighter and prices higher. Read more >>
Life on the Margin: What Generators Need to Know
March 2011
Ontario's natural gas and electricity markets are both complex and volatile. This poses a challenge for operators of natural gas-fired power generation facilties. Whether you are a district energy operator or your institution or industrial operation has embedded generation, your operating economics depend directly on what is happening in the natural gas and electricity markets relative to one another, hour by hour. This is a daunting task. Read more >>