Report expected to say coal plant closures may have to be put off past 2009
The operator of Ontario’s electricity system is expected to confirm Friday it has recommended the province shelve plans to close some of its coal-fired plants by 2009.
The decision would reverse a key element in the provincial Liberal government’s 2003 election platform. The Dalton McGuinty government had already delayed its original deadline for coal-plant closures by two years.
The Independent Electricity System Operator released a February report that suggested the government should reconsider closing at least two of the four pollution-causing plants.
A fifth, Toronto’s Lakeview facility, was shut in 2005 after 43 years, and is due to be demolished on Monday.
The delay of further closures comes amid suggestions that the IESO miscalculated forecasts for electricity this summer by as much as 2,500 megawatts, which might mean more reliance on expensive imported power from other provinces and the United States.
