Association seeks approval to lease power plants.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Northwest Energy Association - Brief Article

The Northwest Energy Association (NEA), a consortium of area hydro utilities, s hoping Ontario Power Generation Corp. (OPG) will approve its proposal to lease two northwestern Ontario. Coal stations in an attempt to sell power more affordably to local markets and the United States.

"(The proposal) fits in with our overall plans for the area: the plans we have for Thunder Bay plus the building of an extensive grid," says Larry Hebert, NEA president and chief executive officer. "We see these plans as a great start to the process."

NEA consists of Thunder Bay Hydro and smaller municipal utilities in Terrace Bay, Atikokan, Fort Frances,. Sioux Lookout and Kenora. The association, which buys power through OPG's power grid, was incorporated in February 1998 in response to Bill 35, the Energy Competition Act.

Hebert, who is also the general manager of Thunder Bay Hydro, says with deregulation set to take place next spring, a leasing agreement for the two plants would benefit every member utility of NEA.

"We feel --.and we've talked to some of the employees at the plants -- that if they're run for northwestern Ontario they can be run in a more efficient manner," Hebert says. "By that I don't mean they're not efficiently run now, but they're run for the overall system in Ontario which means they're part of a 30,000-megawatt system. If we run them in northwestern Ontario, they're part of a 1,400-megawatt system. We feel we'll be able to run them in different fashion, and the employees basically share that view."

He says control over the two power plants will serve as an economic development tool for NEA; which serves about 68,000 customers in the northwest.

"We see operating these plants down the road as kind of merchant plan in the overall scheme of things. They still operate and can produce power cheaper than in the U.S., and so we could still sell their output into the U.S.

"Obviously we want to make sure our own needs are met first, and as cheap as possible. We feel that by providing cheap power to the area, and making sure we can do it in as friendly a way as possible, we will attract industry to the area because it will be an economic development tool. If we can show the rest of the world they should come and build their mines here (because) we can provide cheap power to them, then we see some real advantage to things opening up in the area."

Northwestern Ontario's demand for power is about 1,000 megawatts and the two coal stations up for grabs...