Ontario IESO starts programs to ease summer power supply
crunches
Boston (Platts)--30May2006
Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator Tuesday said that after
a successful three-week test of its planned "Day-Ahead Commitment Program" it
will launch the program Wednesday for power commitments on Thusday.
The DACP is viewed as a means to address reliability this summer, when
electricity supplies could tighten if Ontario again experiences one or more
heat waves. The DACP will require generators to submit dispatch data to the
grid operator by 11 am on the "pre-dispatch day" in order to be dispatched in
real-time the following day.
Importers also will have a chance to get a commitment their power will be
accepted, enabling them to make needed arrangements for transmission. The DACP
will continue for six months, unless it is extended by the IESO's board.
The IESO also said Tuesday that in mid-June it plans to implement the
"Emergency Load Reduction Program," which will provide incentives to customers
who cut consumption or use backup generation when the supply is tight. An IESO
spokeswoman said the ELRP's first three participants -- Flakeboard, Georgia
Pacific Canada and Toronto Hydro-Electric System -- have indicated that they
may offer a total of up to 70 MW into the program.
Under the ELRP, participants will be notified a day ahead that supplies
will be tight the following day and that they should make specific offers of
how many megawatts they would be willing to take offline for which hours the
following day. Participants then will receive C$15/MWh for load that they
offer to place on standby the following day and -- if the IESO needs to take
load offline -- they will receive up to C$600/MWh. Higher payments would be
made if the hourly price in wholesale market exceeds those dollar amounts.
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