GoEnergy

Author: Steve Sabean

  • New Rates Effective October 1st, 2018

    Your Union Gas bill will look very different this October.

    First, the much anticipated elimination of cap-and-trade charges will result in a lower charge on the delivery line item. Secondly, there will be a one-time delivery adjustment for all contract rate delivery services.

    The October bill will also include an interim adjustment to true-up costs and credits related to the cap-and-trade from prior periods.

    The one-time delivery adjustment is related to 2015 Demand Side Management.

    System gas customers will also see a change in their supply rate that includes not only an October adjustment, but also the July adjustment that was deferred because of the significant changes in the previous quarter.

    Source: Union Gas Factsline

  • Hurricane Florence Is Closing In On The Carolinas

    CNN says that Hurricane Florence will likely be the hurricane of a lifetime for portions of the Carolina coast. This is a monster hurricane with tropical storm force winds stretching more than 500 kilometers.

    A private weather-forecasting firm is estimating that Hurricane Florence will cause over $50 billion in economic damages. Accuweather said in a news release Thursday that most of the damage will come from flooding, coastal damage and wind.

    Nuclear power plants will begin shutting  down in advance of hurricane force winds. Shutdowns are required before winds reach 74 mph (119 km/h). An estimated 25-75% of homes and businesses will be without power across North and South Carolina.

    Four major gas producing areas are within the potential path of the hurricane which could reduce natural gas production according to Platts Analytics. LNG terminals could also be disrupted.

    So far, the storm has had little impact on gas prices.

  • Summer 2018 ICI Class A Review

    July and August were very hot months and for the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) Class A program, five very strong peak hours were established. The first week of September is expected to remain hot and, with school starting and less vacations, it is possible that a new peak will contribute to the top five adjusted Allocated Quantity of Energy Withdrawn (AQEW) peak hours.

    According to the IESO forecast, the only other month we can expect a peak Ontario demand hour is in January 2019. This is under normal weather conditions. For extreme weather conditions it is still possible for demand peaks to occur in the shoulder months of September, December and February.

     

    http://www.ieso.ca/sector-participants/settlements/global-adjustment-for-class-a

     

  • Enbridge And Union Gas Make Progress On Merger

    On August 30th, 2018, another hurdle was passed as the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) approved how the two utilities, Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. and Union Gas Limited, will amalgamate. If the OEB decision and approved parameters are accepted by Enbridge, the companies will begin the process towards becoming a single operating company.

    Among the OEB approvals are a new rate setting mechanism effective January 1, 2019 and a deferred rebasing period of five years and not a ten-year rebasing period requested by the utilities.

  • Cap And Trade To Be Removed October 1st

    Although the Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) have yet to make an announcement, the Ontario government announced that the 3.5 cents per cubic meter charge related to cap and trade will be removed as of October 1, 2018. The charge was not transparent on customer bills, but consumers will see the reduction on their delivery line charge.

    The cap and trade program in Ontario was officially revoked on July 3, 2018.

    The October 1 change coincides with the LDCs QRAM (Quarterly Rate Adjustment Mechanism). The 2018 fourth quarter QRAM will not only remove the cap and trade charge but will also adjust the utility gas price and will include retroactive adjustments.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/natural-gas-cap-trade-ontario-doug-ford-1.4803207

  • North American Power Blackout

    Where were you August 14th, 2003? On that date and for the next four days most of Ontario and parts of the northeastern United States were without power.

    The IESO looked back and declared these causes for the blackout: deficiencies in operations and procedures in Ohio, poor communication and lack of training. Wikipedia says the blackout’s primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at the control room of an Ohio based electric utility.

    More than 50 million people were affected. A state of emergency was declared in Ontario until August 22nd. In 2003 Ontario was the only jurisdiction with enforced reliability standards for power systems. The Northeast blackout changed that and now there are standards throughout North America.

    www.ieso

  • Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

    The 2018 hurricane season forecast has been modified. There is now a 60% chance there will be less hurricane activity than average according to NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Climate Prediction Centre. As of now, there have already been five named storms. Only one of them, Subtropical Storm Alberto, caused any major damage including the shutdown and evacuation of a few oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

    However, it was between August 17th and September 2nd in 2017, the height of hurricane season, that the major hurricanes such as Harvey and Irma hit in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. A major hurricane could still be on the way. But as it is, there is not expected to be as many hurricanes in 2018.

    Hurricane season is officially June 1st through November 30th each year.

    noaa.gov

  • Tesla Sues Ontario

    The new Ontario PC government cancelled many green energy initiatives including an Electric Vehicle Incentive Program that provided a rebate of up to $14,000 for people buying electric cars.

    The cancellation included a transition program but excluded Tesla because Tesla does not use franchised dealerships. Tesla Inc. is taking Ontario to court according to papers filed on August 10th.

    reuters.com tesla sues ontario

  • One-Time Enbridge Gas Charge

    Enbridge Gas Distribution will be applying a one-time charge on upcoming October 2018 natural gas bills and another one-time charge on the January 2019 bills.

    The charges, related to demand side management and variance account balancing, will depend on gas usage in 2017. The charges will also vary among rate classes (i.e. general vs. contract).

    In some cases, the one-time adjustment could be a credit. If you would like assistance with calculating the approximate charge, or a more detailed explanation of the adjustments, please contact the GOenergy office. (All charges are subject to OEB approval)

  • Peak Tracking for Global Adjustment Class A

    July 2018 was an extremely hot month and five strong peaks were established for the current ICI (Industrial Conservation Initiative) 12-month base period. On July 5th, electricity use in Ontario peaked at 23,045 MW. This was the highest peak demand since 2013.

    Higher than normal temperatures are expected to continue for the first half of August. Chances of reaching a new top five peak this summer remain high.

    For help forecasting the top five Ontario peak demand hours and lower your Global Adjustment costs, the IESO publishes the hour of the maximum forecasted Ontario demand looking out over the next six days. More sophisticated forecasting tools are available from various third-party providers.

     

    www.ieso.com