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Ontario Power Generation



         


Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is a Crown corporation responsible for electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada.

OPG was established in April 1999 under the provincial government of premier Mike Harris as a precursor to deregulation of the province's electrical transmission delivery. As part of government plans to privatize the assets of Ontario Hydro, the utility was splti into 5 separate Crown corporations with OPG made the collective operator of all Ontario Hydro electrical generating stations. OPG was not intended to be included in the 2001 failed Initial Public Offering of stock in its sister company, another Ontario Hydro spin-off, Hydro One and the planned privatization of all electrical generation and distribution in the province has been postponed indefinitely.

OPG is Canada's largest owner of nuclear power plants with responsibility for operating 12 CANDU reactors. Another 8 CANDU reactors in Tiverton that were owned/operated by Ontario Hydro until the 1999 splitting of the company, are still owned by OPG but have been operated under a long term lease by an independent private sector consortium called Bruce Power since May 2001.

OPG has attracted considerable controversy for its continued operation of some of Canada's worst air pollution sources in its coal fired generating stations. Nanticoke GS is North America's largest coal fired generating station and the single worst air pollution source for southern Ontario and northern New York state, attracting considerable criticism from environmentalists and legislators in both jurisdictions. Lambton GS is the second worst air polluter in the province and Lakeview GS is the largest single source of smog in the Golden Horseshoe/GTA.

OPG endured significant criticism concerning the slow return to operation of its generating stations which had been knocked offline by the August 14, 2003 blackout. Critics particularly noted the cumbersome and expensive refits to the 3 mothballed reactors at Pickering A GS which might have alleviated the province's crippled generating capacity following the blackout.

To its credit, OPG owns/operates or contracts some limited alternative electricity generation through 2 wind power sites as well as 2 solar power sites and 2 biomass energy sites.

Former Ontario Hydro generating stations currently owned and operated by OPG include:

Nuclear

Fossil Fuel

Large Hydroelectric

Small Hydroelectric

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