Pickering nuclear station shuts down for refurbishment, raising fears of higher power prices — SkimNews
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- Pickering Nuclear Generating Station shut down Unit 5 on Tuesday as the first step in a $26.8-billion refurbishment, with all four operational reactors scheduled to come offline before Sept. 30
- Ontario Power Generation expects the Pickering B units — roughly one-tenth of Ontario's electricity — to return to service between 2031 and 2034, with gas-fired generation filling the gap in the interim
- Brad Duguid, president of the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario, warned of "unprecedented price spikes" this winter, comparing the burden on industrial users (Ford, Toyota, Stelco, ArcelorMittal Dofasco) to a 165% mortgage increase after last winter's extraordinary hikes
- AMPCO has lobbied Premier Doug Ford and three ministers for a new rate-relief program before winter and for Emissions Performance Standards adjustments to strip carbon costs from industrial electricity bills
- Energy Minister Stephen Lecce's spokesperson Noah Mawji cited existing programs like the Industrial Conservation Initiative and urged Ottawa to eliminate industrial carbon pricing, which he said would save large consumers roughly 10% on electricity bills
- OPG completed a refurbishment of Darlington station in March, but the four-reactor facility then suffered multiple unplanned outages this year — leaving just one reactor in service for much of the summer, with two recently returning and another scheduled to restart in November
- Activist groups including the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and Ontario Clean Air Alliance oppose the refurbishment, with the latter comparing Pickering to a "1986 Ford Taurus" with a "long history of shutdowns, accidents and underwhelming performance"
Why it matters: Large industrial users in Ontario — Ford, Toyota, Stelco, and ArcelorMittal Dofasco — face potentially severe wholesale electricity price spikes this winter as gas-fired generation displaces roughly one-tenth of provincial power, and AMPCO is racing the province to deliver rate relief before peak demand arrives.
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