Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator Releases 2012 Electricity Production, Consumption and Price Data

TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2013 /CNW/ - Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) today released its annual statistics on electricity supply, demand and price, which reflect the changes taking place in the provincial electricity system in the way electricity is produced and consumed.

"Over the last number of years, Ontario has made significant investments in new supply, new transmission, and now virtually every Ontarian is under time-of-use pricing," said IESO President and CEO Paul Murphy. "These numbers demonstrate just how far the transition of Ontario's electricity sector has come."

Supply

Nuclear units remained the cornerstone of Ontario's supply mix. Gas and hydroelectric units continued to provide important flexibility by ramping production up and down in response to changes in demand and wind output. Wind generation has grown to become a mainstream resource.

In 2012, nuclear output showed a modest increase to 85.6 terawatt-hours (TWh), up from 85.3 TWh the year before, representing 56.4 per cent of total generation.  Contributions from renewable resources continued to grow. Wind production increased from 3.9 TWh to 4.6 TWh. On a percentage basis, it represented 3.0 per cent of total output - up from 2.6 per cent in 2011 - and exceeded the output of Ontario's coal plants.

Output from hydroelectric and natural gas facilities was essentially unchanged from 2011, coming in at 33.8 TWh and 22.2 TWh respectively. Ontario's coal-fired units remained at less than three per cent of production.

Electricity transactions between Ontario and its interconnected markets picked up in 2012, resulting in higher import and export volumes. Scheduled imports rose to 4.7 TWh from 3.9 TWh in 2011, while exports increased to 14.6 TWh from 12.9 TWh the year before. Total production from Ontario's power generators rose in 2012, for a total of 151.8 TWh.

The table below reflects total electricity production in 2012, broken out by fuel type.

Year	Nuclear	Hydro	Coal	Gas	Wind	Other
2012	85.6 TWh 56.4%	33.8 TWh 22.3%	4.3 TWh 2.8%	22.2 TWh 14.6%	4.6 TWh 3.0%	1.3 TWh 0.8%
2011	85.3 TWh 56.9%	33.3 TWh 22.2%	4.1 TWh 2.7%	22.0 TWh 14.7%	3.9 TWh 2.6%	1.2 TWh 0.8%
2010	82.9 TWh 55.0%	30.7 TWh 20.4%	12.6 TWh 8.3%	20.5 TWh 13.6%	2.8 TWh 1.9%	1.3 TWh 0.8%
2009	82.5 TWh 55.2%	38.1 TWh 25.5%	9.8 TWh 6.6%	15.4 TWh 10.3%	2.3 TWh 1.6%	1.2 TWh 0.8%
2008	84.4 TWh 53.0%	38.3 TWh 24.1%	23.2 TWh 14.5%	11.0 TWh 6.9%	1.4 TWh 0.9%	1.0 TWh 0.6%
Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100.

Demand

Electricity demand patterns in Ontario continued to change; peaks in demand fell far below historical highs, while the growth in overall consumption remained in check.

In response to price signals and programs such as the OPA's DR3 and peaksaver PLUS, Ontario's consumers had a direct impact on reducing the year's summer peak. For example, industrial, commercial and institutional consumers helped reduce at least 400 megawatts (MW) during the year's demand peak on July 17, helping to bring the peak down to 24,636 MW. This peak was lower than the previous year's, when record-breaking heat and humidity pushed hourly demand to 25,450 MW.

Total annual electricity consumption stayed virtually flat at 141.3 TWh. Factors constraining growth include the current economic conditions, the growth in embedded generation capacity (which reduces demand for electricity from the bulk power system) and ongoing conservation and demand management initiatives.

Price

The total cost of power in 2012 was 7.37 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), up from 7.16 cents/kWh in 2011. This cost includes the average weighted wholesale market price of 2.41 cents/kWh and the average Global Adjustment of 4.96 cents/kWh*.

The IESO is responsible for managing Ontario's bulk electricity power system and operating the wholesale market. It provides a range of historical and real-time electricity data, such as hourly demand, generator output and prices on its web site at www.ieso.ca.

*incorporates an estimate for the December Global Adjustment

SOURCE: Independent Electricity System Operator

Martine Holmsen
416-998-2837
[email protected]