News
Welcome to the the February 2012 issue of the Langford Newsletter bringing you product updates and the latest in the Ontario Electricity Industry,
In this issue...
Whats On
Basler's 11th Annual Distributed Generation School will be held March 26-29 in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The school was designed for individuals with a background in switchgear design, consulting, utility intertie, industrial power, and/or engine generator set application. For invitation and registration see basler.com Register early as space is limited. Ten per cent early bird discount before February 20
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The Corona Inspection Training Institute's seminar on Corona detection is important for any company involved with high voltage. It provides the tools to understand what causes corona, what is corona and what are the consequences of leaving corona unattended. The seminar with be held March 14-16 in Baltimore MD. See citi-training for details and to register.
Ontario News –Rate Battles, A Way Out, and Applying Pressure
Product Spotlight –Achieving Targets at WLU
Schneider Electric –EPSS Testing
Basler - DECS-2100
Gridsense – Detecting Open Conductors
Did You Know... – CES NOT NEP
Ontario News
Raising Rates - Toronto Hydro will be asking the OEB to reconsider a request to increase hydro rates, which was turned down earlier this month. On January 20, a letter signed by the chairman of Toronto Hydro’s board of directors was sent to the energy board, outlining why it says an increase is necessary. Toronto Hydro wanted to present its case for raising monthly hydro rates by an average of $5 a household to pay for infrastructure improvements totalling $1.5-billion over the next three years. The letter says upgrades are necessary to bring Toronto's grid up to modern standards. Forty per cent of power outages in Toronto are caused by equipment failures, the letter says, which doesn’t meet reliability standards. See theglobeandmail
Stopping Wind - The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), which represents more than 38,000 farmers in the province, has called for a moratorium on wind power development in the province, saying there are too many unanswered questions about its value, and that the debate over turbines is polarizing rural communities. Issues include returning the planning for wind farms to municipalities, health and noise complaints needing to be addressed, and more study needing to be done to ensure the current 550 meter 'setback' is sufficient. They also want more effort made to store the turbine generated power since currently it is often sold at a loss on export markets when it is not being generated at times of peak usage. The Canadian Wind Energy Association said it is “extremely disappointed” in the OFA’s move. See theglobeandmail and canwea.ca
A Way Out - The federal government is offering the provinces a way to avoid tough new regulations that would eventually force power companies to shut down the country’s fleet of coal-fired power plants. Environment Minister Peter Kent and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have privately indicated they are willing to provide flexibility in how new power-plant emissions rules are implemented, provincial and industry sources said in early January. The federal government is willing to cede regulation of power-sector emissions to the provinces – as long as they have rules in place that would achieve equivalent reductions. The new approach would allow provinces to set overall emissions targets, rather than adhere to strict targets for each individual power facility as set out by the government’s original approach. For full story see theglobeandmail
Clarifying CDM - The OEB posted a draft of the CDM guidelines for electrical distributors in early January with comments due by the 26th. The guidelines are intended to clarify certain provisions of the CDM code that was issued in September 2010. It sets out the obligations and requirements with which electricity distributors must comply in relation to the CDM targets set out in their licences. It also sets out the conditions and rules that licensed electricity distributors are required to follow if they choose to apply for Board-Approved CDM programs to meet the CDM targets. See ontarioenergyboard.ca
Applying Pressure - For a year there has been a moratorium on the development of offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes. The Ontario government issued the ban because it said more study was needed to make sure the projects can be developed safely and responsibly, even though such studies were supposedly already done when the previous moratorium was lifted in January 2008. A consortium, calling itself the Lake Ontario Offshore Network, with companies that stretch from Kingston to Niagara Region has high hopes of changing the government’s mind. See cleanbreak.ca
The Auditor's Report -On December 5, 2011, the Auditor-General of Ontario released his annual report. Approximately 60 pages are devoted to three aspects of Ontario’s Electricity Sector: The Regulatory Oversight of the Ontario Energy Board, Ontario’s Renewable Energy Initiatives, and the Stranded Debt. While it has already garnered considerable attention, this summary by Gowlings provides a succinct look of some of the highlights. See gowlings
Investing -Hydro One has made a second $3-million contribution to the four colleges that make up the Hydro One College Consortium – Algonquin, Georgian, Mohawk and Northern.With up to 30 per cent of Hydro One's workforce eligible to retire in the next five years, promoting careers in the utility sector is a timely initiative. See hydroone They have also launched the Hydro One FNMI Award, an academic scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students that support their post-secondary education in power-related studies. hydroone
Inappropriate Conduct - On November 18, 2011, OPG dismissed 11 staff for what was believed to be a violation of the Code of Business Conduct when allegations were made of drug-related activity. Following labour relations procedures, on December 28 three individuals did not return to OPG with the eight remaining employees reinstated by the arbitrator with varying levels of discipline. See opg.com
Half-Way - Half of the tunnel of the the Niagara Tunnel Project is now fully lined with concrete. The smooth concrete lining will ensure the efficient and uninterrupted flow of Niagara River water through the 10.2 km tunnel to the Sir Adam Beck generating stations. See ontario.ca
Product Spotlight – Achieving Targets at Wilfred Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier University has utility costs of $4.5 million annually. During the PLUG Conference 2011, Ray Robichaud gave a presentation on their efforts to reach and develop their sustainability targets that included a 25 per cent reduction in GHG in five years. The process included benchmarking, utility monitoring and awareness, documentation and assessments, and project implementation. They have had access to natural gas, electricity and water data since 2006 with on-going use of the ION Energy Management System to track, analyze and report on utility information. Some of the benefits of implementing the system included accurate prediction of future energy bills, establishing energy cost savings goals, prioritizing sites for energy retrofits, finding billing errors, and managing peak electrical loads campus wide including electrical load shedding. It also allowed Buildings and Operations to develop a long term utility budget, identify areas for conservation, provide data for strategic planning, and provide an accounting to for sub-billing internal departments, provided a troubleshooting tool for engineering and maintenance, and made complying with the Green Energy Act more manageable. Through the Laurier Energy Dashboard website they provide an on-going consumption and data source for students and staff that has fueled participation in conservation programs and energy awareness. Documentation and Assessment of the entire process has allowed them to continually assess and improve on current building processes. For full presentation of the project see Laurier and buildingdashboard
Schneider Electric – EPSS Testing
Maintaining a reliable emergency power supply system (EPSS) test procedure requires systematic testing particularly in critical areas such as hospitals but co-ordinating manual testing of an EPSS is often difficult to coordinate and validate even with skilled personnel. The process is fraught with difficulties including inadequate manual testing routines that can cause backup power system failure and the reduction of reliability and dependability when exercising a generator below its recommended loading. With the use of ION Enterprise, an automated, reliable test process can be developed that reduces labour intensive data gathering, monitors the length of time required to transfer loads to the emergency system, and validates responsiveness of automatic transfer switches or transfer schemes. Using an automated system reduces the likelihood of human errors, provides traceability and accountability, and can prove due diligence before an event. In the event of a real outage, the system collects data which can be used after the fact for a test report. For full presenatation at the PLUG Conference see langford-assoc
Basler – DECS-2100
Basler's latest Digital Excitation Control System, the DECS-2100, incorporates a new controller that provides exceptional system response. The combination of its microprocessor-based platform, fiber-optic rectifier bridge firing control, and online maintenance-capable rectifier bridges (N+1 designs) offers the highest system performance possible for most any application or size of machine. The DECS-2100 offers user-friendly features that are incorporated from the DECS-400, while improving upon the existing flexible and customizable control of the ECS2100. The most effective way to react to system disturbances is to use a system that can be tailored to suit each customer’s specific application needs. The DECS-2100 is the system that will allow you to accomplish this, in a more user-friendly environment and with more features than ever before with provisions having been implemented into the new DECS-2100’s controller to allow it to be retrofitted into existing ECS2100 systems. See basler
ErlPhase - - Detecting Open Conductors
Open conductors can pose serious problems to the power system. They can cause system instability due to reduced power transfer capability, overload in the healthy phases, and higher voltages on ungrounded systems. This application note from ERLPhase provides a solution to detect open conductor events in the case where the conductors have not touched the ground. The TESLA 4000 Digital Fault Recorder functions and Boolean logic are used in order to create an open conductor detection solution. See erlphase
Did you know...
CES NOT NEP - Alberta Premier Alison Redford is championing some kind of national energy plan and even though she hasn’t exactly spelled out what it means, she is quick to correct the vernacular. It’s a “Canadian Energy Strategy,” not a National Energy Program. That Trudeau-era hangover still gives Albertans a headache. Advocating for a new nationwide strategy has become such a defining feature of the Redford government, that it is already known in government shorthand as CES, not NEP. Ms. Redford traveled to Quebec and Ontario, where at each turn, she’ll laid out her vision for a national approach to energy. Ms. Redford already has B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall on her side after hosting a meeting with her western counterparts in December. Ms. Redford hopes to create an energy framework that allows each region to work together based on its strengths to access new markets to the benefit of the Canadian economy overall, she added. Ms. Redford explained in an interview last month that her goal isn’t to produce a document that every premier signs. See theglobeandmail Quebec has long been opposed to a national strategy for fear that the federal government would dictate development policy in a sector over which the province claims jurisdiction. But after a meeting with his Alberta counterpart, Alison Redford, Premier Jean Charest said Quebec was willing to co-operate with the other provinces if the federal government is kept on the sidelines. See theglobeandmail
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