Baird didn't know Bruce was down By Canadian Press TORONTO -- Ontario's energy minister had no idea a key source of nuclear power was out of action during the recent summer of record-breaking heat and soaring electricity prices. Although the province teetered on the brink of brownouts and blackouts because of a limited power supply, the minister says he only found out about the problem at the Bruce nuclear power plant yesterday morning. "I was informed this morning," John Baird said on the day a local newspaper ran a story on the shutdown. "Obviously, I'd rather see anything before it's on the front page of a newspaper." An accident in June at Unit 6 of the Bruce Power B generating station near Kincardine knocked the reactor out of service for the summer, the hottest in the province in some 50 years. Increased consumer demand led to records for consumer consumption and forced the province to purchase imported power. But Premier Ernie Eves dismissed the suggestion the shutdown was directly responsible for electricity price hikes. "I think it's important to put this in its proper perspective," he said. "Sure, it had some effect, but to say that because this unit was down for two or three months . . . that is why consumers faced higher energy prices summer prices this summer, I don't really think it's a fair comment." A news release put out by Bruce Power in June about the shutdown said the "operational impact (was) not expected to be significant." Baird, who took over the Energy portfolio in August from Chris Stockwell, said the Energy Ministry and the Independent Electricity Market Operator, which runs Ontario's electricity grid, knew about the problem at the plant. Asked whether Stockwell was also told the generating unit was down, Baird said: "As I was informed, he wasn't." Stockwell referred all questions on the matter to Baird. The unit in question had been taken out of operation in March for planned maintenance, but the accident on June 11 kept it down for the summer. Asked why the public was not better informed of the problem, Baird said the Independent Electricity Market Operator decided how to handle the matter, adding the information was "commercially sensitive." "We're talking about one generator of four at the Bruce B Station," he said. "The IMO was informed and they're the ones who make the judgment. Obviously, electricity is priced on supply and demand and if supply is reduced obviously that could have an effect on the price." |