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---------- Original message ---------- From: Premier of Ontario | Premier ministre de l’Ontario <Premier@ontario.ca> Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2019 09:00:29 +0000 Subject: Automatic reply: YO Gaeton Thomas do you and your buddy Marc.Belliveau get your gossip about me from mindless Chucky Leblanc or your lawyer Johnny "Never Been Good" Furey??? To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
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David Raymond Amos@DavidRayAmos Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 48 others Methinks NB Power talks out of both sides of its mouth about wind energy They certainly sing a different tune to the Yankees in Massachusetts byway of their buddies in Emera N'esy Pas?
Saint John wind energy project will deeply undercut NB Power rates
69 Comments Commenting is now closed for this story.
David Amos I talked to Mikey Holland when we were running in the last election and sent him emails as well. Months later I talked to the NB Power spokesperson Marc Belliveau before I was barred from the latest EUB hearing about another rate increase. I cut short the conversation with Belliveau the instant he insulted me then sent him and his new boss Mikey Holland emails instead. Methinks everybody knows the reason I did so was because Belliveau claimed that he knew all about me My question should be who told Belliveau what about me N'esy Pas?
David Amos I wonder if Ray Robinson or the NB Power dudes or anyone else can recall what folks were saying about NB Power just 6 months ago as Mr Higgs became Premier and his Deputy Mr Gauvin was thinking about quitting over what their lawyer pal Ted Flemming was saying about language issues within our Health Care System?
Methinks we should be far more concerned about NB Power wanting to put us another 120 million or so in debt over not so smart meters while NB Power continues to write huge cheques to the the Irvring Clan and their cohorts N'esy Pas?
David Amos Methinks much to NB Power's chagrin my position has not changed particularly after their lawyers had their EUB buddies illegally bar me from another rate increase hearing N'esy Pas?
David Amos Methinks the lawyers working for Ray Robinson and the NB Power dudes may enjoy a little Deja Vu about now Nesy Pas?
One can only imagine he hue and cry if power were imported from Quebec or Muskrat to supply NB of electric needs.
Shutting down polluting power plants should be considered.
David Amos
Reply to @Colin Seeley: Methinks everybody knows that your hero Mr Higgs, his Irving Clan buddies and the NB Power dudes don't care what the Green Meanies say about anything N'esy Pas?
Neil MacLean Mr Robinson has a utility background and therefore surely understands that the cost of power is determined from the overall system, and not just from part of the system. It isn't reasonable to have Saint John Energy acting as both a generating utility to itself, and as a distribution utility for NB Power where they pay no appropriate charge for the cost of backup power to their SJ Energy generation. A huge part of the cost of wind power is the cost of having immediately ready backup power to deal with changes in the wind. Mr. Robinson may have fooled some politicians and board members and citizens of Saint John as to the reasonableness of his actions but it does not serve the interests of the province to have a power system where there is not strong overall operational coordination and at the same time fair allocation of total costs. Incidentally since Mr. Robinson assumed his position, operations within Saint John Energy have not been as sharp as under his predecessors. Specifically there are now customers experiencing outages of some length who formerly would only see very occasional brief flickers of the lights during years and years of service. This isn't just climate change. It appears Mr Robinson does not favour so much the automatic switching of sections of distribution feeders to be fed from a different substation when their link to their normal substation is broken. Keeping the lights on with smart operations isn't as newsworthy as wind power. Still, service is generally good because of the inherent advantages of greater median customer density (than NB Power). But it could be better with less debt and less news. Proper co-ordination of generation developments in the province are critically important to assure the most reasonable overall cost.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Neil MacLean: With all due respect, I think you missed this part of the article: "and Saint John Energy will continue to pay significant demand charges to NB Power, in excess of $20 million per year, to reserve generation capacity for itself for when the wind doesn't blow."
Roy Kirk
Reply to @Fred Brewer: If I recall correctly, those demand charges are founded on an assumption as to the variability of the load. If the load becomes substantially more variable the demand charges will likely have to increase to capture the costs.
David Amos
Reply to @Neil MacLean: Oh My My Don't I love the Circus
Chuck Michaels "... NB Power has expressed concern at its last two rate hearings about having too much wind on its system already..."
The only excessive wind I see here is coming from the direction of Energie NB Power... I would *happily^ go with an all-wind independent provider - bonus if the cost was lower!
David Amos
Reply to @Chuck Michaels: Methinks a lot of folks who care about their power bills should ask Minister Mikey Holland and their MLA why I was barred from the last two rate hearings within the EUB Trust that Mr Jones will never tell you N'esy Pas?
David Amos Methinks NB Power talks out of both sides of its mouth about wind energy They certainly sing a different tune to the Yankees in Massachusetts byway of their buddies in Emera N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Reply to @David Amos: Methinks the people who don't like what i post no doubt work for NB Power N'esy Pas?
Marguerite Deschamps
Reply to @David Amos: and you think everyone else loves you?
David Amos
Reply to @Marguerite Deschamps: Methinks everybody knows why I am honoured by the fact that you don't N'esy Pas?
Dan Lee: More excuses not to run wind farms......what is wrong with them........
Harold Benson
Reply to @Dan Lee: You'd find out if you had one in your back yard.
David Amos
Reply to @Harold Benson: Methinks Sam should have informed you that nobody cares about anything until it is in their backyard N'esy Pas?
Murray Brown NB Power prefers to rely on 'magical' sources of energy produced with a 'secret' process that nobody understands, and sold to them by shady business partners in Florida under investigation for securities fraud. But this windmill stuff may have a future with Saint John Energy.
David Amos
Reply to @Murray Brown: Nobody cares about windmills in SainT John.
Methinks that this article is just fluff while Mr Jones continues to ignore far more important issues with NB Power. The 357 Matter within the EUB is a good example N'esy Pas?
NB Power has told the Energy and Utilities board it is already dealing with as much wind energy as it can handle and has not yet decided if it will lease space on its transmission system to Saint John Energy for its project. (Michael Heenan/CBC)
Saint John Energy has received bids on a proposed city wind farm that will provide electricity so cheaply the utility plans to proceed with the project even if NB Power does not allow the use of its transmission infrastructure to move the energy.
"NB Power cannot stop the project from moving forward," said Saint John Energy CEO Ray Robinson.
"We can do this within our own means."
Saint John Energy is one of NB Power's largest customers but has been working on a project to generate some of its own electricity by constructing a small wind farm on the western edge of the city.
The plan calls for the installation and operation of up to 10 wind turbines by 2022 on hills overlooking the Bay of Fundy, not far from NB Power's Coleson Cove oil-fired generating station.
Saint John Energy wants to tie the farm into nearby transmission infrastructure owned by NB Power that serves Coleson Cove and then move it into the city's distribution system from there, but the two utilities have not yet been able to come to an agreement on that issue.
Too much wind?
NB Power has expressed concern at its last two rate hearings about having too much wind on its system already and has so far been non-committal about working with Saint John Energy on its plan.
NB Power spokesperson Marc Belliveau said the utility currently manages and balances the unpredictable output of more than 100 windmills in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and northern Maine with more coming online soon and needs to assess what else, if anything, it can take on.
"NB Power is currently studying the issue in order to better understand these costs and to ensure that the right price signals are allocated to all project developers in order to ensure that the most economically efficient projects are integrated into the system on behalf of all New Brunswickers," wrote Belliveau in an email to CBC News about the Saint John Energy project.
Saint John Energy is expected to select a developer for its wind farm this summer from a shortlist of companies who responded to a request for proposals that went out last winter. The particulars of the proposals received are not known, but Robinson said they include prices for electricity similar to those recently announced in western Canada.
Late last year, Saskatchewan accepted a bid on a wind farm development for an "all in" price of 4.2 cents per kilowatt hour, including transmission costs. In 2017, Alberta accepted a bid of 3.7 cents per kilowatt hour after holding an open auction for wind energy.
Saint John Energy wants to develop a wind farm overlooking the Bay of Fundy near NB Power's Coleson Cove generating station, pictured above, and use NB Power transmission wires to move the electricity into the city. (Matthew Bingley/CBC)
That's as much as 45 per cent cheaper than the 6.7 cents Saint John Energy currently pays NB Power for electricity —not including separate electrical "demand" charges. That's more than enough to finance construction of its own infrastructure to connect a wind farm to the distribution system if NB Power declines to help.
"These are very credible proposals from credible developers and yes it's a dramatic reduction in costs and it is in that order of magnitude we've all seen out west," said Robinson about the bids Saint John Energy has received.
The city utility believes it can generate up to 140 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually from 10 windmills — as much as 16 per cent of what it currently buys from NB Power.
That could provide the utility up to $3 million per year in savings on its power bill. Saint John Energy's preference is to pay NB Power a fee to use its transmission system for the development, but it will not be deterred if the answer is no or the price NB Power eventually proposes is too high.
Robinson equated NB Power's transmission lines to a toll highway and said Saint John Energy will happily use it unless its cheaper to build its own thoroughfare.
"Are we permitted to access the highway and, if we are, what's the toll rate," he said. "The scenario where we do it on our own — we can do it."
Swings in production
NB Power is less enthusiastic about wind energy — and supporting Saint John Energy's project — because of the difficulty managing the huge swings in output wind produces.
At its rate hearing last month, NB Power's senior system planning engineer, Darren Clark, described how large high-pressure systems sometimes settle over the province and kill all wind everywhere at the same time.
At other times, he said, wind blows strongly when demand for electricity is low, forcing NB Power under terms of its contracts with wind farm owners to pay for power it cannot resell.
"If it's windy, there is wind (power). If it's not, then there is not," said Clark. "It's a reliability and a capacity (issue)."
Because wind energy can drop away to nothing from time to time, NB Power needs to have enough generating capacity to operate as though the province had no windmills at all.
NB Power vice-president Keith Cronkhite said in 2017 between Christmas and New Year the province was hit with a windless cold snap that drove wind production almost to nothing, just as it was needed the most.
Saint John Energy CEO Ray Robinson says the municipal utility received bids on a proposed city wind farm that will provide electricity so cheaply the utility plans to proceed even if NB Power won't help. (CBC)
"With an installed capacity of approximately 300 megawatts of wind on the system we were generating six megawatts of wind during those peak days," said Cronkhite. "We need to have, and are required to have backup for when those events occur."
NB Power estimated it costs one cent per kilowatt hour for it to manage swings in wind production and to have alternative generating resources standing by to deal with them.
Although NB Power will not be involved in the Saint John Energy wind purchase — it will have to deal with the rising and falling production of the wind farm by filling in gaps in Saint John Energy's supply like it does for all wind projects.
Robinson does not see that as a serious problem for NB Power.
The Saint John project will reduce overall demand on NB Power's system — which is a corporate goal of the provincial utility — and Saint John Energy will continue to pay significant demand charges to NB Power, in excess of $20 million per year, to reserve generation capacity for itself for when the wind doesn't blow.
Robinson said NB Power's recent purchase of the Bayside natural gas generating station in Saint John should also help it better cope with the peaks and valleys of its wind power responsibilities because natural gas generators are more easily ramped up and down than oil and coal plants.
Either way, Robinson said Saint John Energy is committed to its wind project whether NB Power approves or not.
"I'm an advocate of getting more renewables on the system," said Robinson.
Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006.
NB Power CEO's salary tops provincial government list
Province releases annual listing of government salaries
CBC News·
NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas remained the highest paid provincial employee in the last fiscal year. (CBC)
More than 2,200 provincial employees received salaries of $100,000 or more in the last fiscal year, according to the New Brunswick 2017-18 blue book.
The provincial government released the annual listing of government salaries on Wednesday as well as retirement and severance packages, paid out for the year ending March 31, 2018.
Once again, top public-sector earners fell under the umbrellas of NB Power and the departments of justice and health.
NB Power CEO Gaëtan Thomas remained the highest-paid public servant in the province with a salary range of $550,000 to $574,999. The unaudited salary list provides pay ranges instead of the exact figure.
The province's utility employed more than 1,140 workers receiving at least $100,000 — that includes eight employees that make at least $250,000.
Besides the utility, New Brunswick's two health networks and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development employed the highest numbers of $100,000-and-up earners.
Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network employed more than 190 and 130 people, respectively, in that income bracket, and the top administrators were among the highest-paid provincial employees.
Dr. Édouard Hendriks, Horizon's vice-president of medical, academic and research affairs, Dr. France Desrosiers, Vitalité's vice-president of medical, services, training and research, and Vitalité CEO Gilles Lanteigne made between $275,000 and $299,999.
Horizon CEO Karen McGrath was among the top earning public-sector employees in New Brunswick for the year ending March 31, 2018. (CBC)
Horizon CEO Karen McGrath was one bracket lower, earning between $250,000 and $274,999.
The Education Department had more than 180 employees who made at least $100,000, the vast majority in the $100,000 to $124,999 range. Only deputy ministers John McLaughlin and Gérald Richard earned more than $175,000 (but less than $200,000).
The health and justice departments combined to account for just 82 of the roughly 2,220 highest-earning public-sector workers in New Brunswick, but a handful of those individuals are near the top of the list.
Éric Hébert accompagné du chef du PPC, Maxime Bernier.
Le Parti populaire du Canada de Maxime Bernier a profité d'un passage à Québec pour présenter une partie de son équipe dont Éric Hébert, qui convoite le siège de député dans la circonscription Gaspésie-Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
Gaspésien d'adoption, Éric Hébert est un géologue de formation. Il possède un doctorat en ressources minérales de l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Ce dernier a décidé de s'installer en Gaspésie après ses études, tout d'abord à Saint-Alphonse puis à Murdochville ensuite, où il habite toujours. « Mon métier m'amène à voyager partout au Canada. Actuellement, je travaille dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest. J'ai mes revenus ailleurs mais je les dépense ici en Gaspésie», raconte-t-il. Le candidat ne cache pas son intérêt pour tout ce qui touche à l'environnement. Selon lui, contrairement à ce qui est véhiculé, il existe plusieurs solutions pour lutter contre les problèmes actuels et le Parti populaire du Canada est l'endroit idéal pour faire cheminer ces idées. « J'ai choisi l'équipe de Maxime Bernier en raison de sa flexibilité. Il favorise les débats et les idées et encourage la liberté individuelle de s'exprimer. Il n'impose pas une ligne de parti. » Évacuer le discours de gauche Éric Hébert croit qu'il est temps que la population entende un autre discours que celui véhiculé par la gauche. « Actuellement, on parle de taxes sur le carbone, de restreindre les libertés des gens et d'imposer des limites. Je prône davantage une approche où l'environnement n'est pas un frein à l'économie. Il faut considérer l'environnement comme une ressource et non comme un fardeau», ajoute-t-il. Sur la question du pipeline, Éric Hébert estime qu'on fait fausse route en démonisant le pétrole de l'Alberta. « Lorsqu'on importe du pétrole d'outre-mer, il n'y a aucune norme environnementale contrairement aux entreprises d'Amérique du Nord qui investissent beaucoup d'argent pour proposer des technologies plus vertes qui réduisent les gaz à effet de serre.» Sur un plan plus local, il estime que l'exploitation pétrolière en Gaspésie est un non-enjeu puisque les entreprises sont loin de la coupe aux lèvres. « Traditionnellement, en exploration minière, trouver un gisement, c'est comme gagner la loterie. Ce n'est pas demain qu'on verra un puits fonctionnel donc il ne faut pas partir en peur avec le pétrole en Gaspésie. » Quant au développement économique, le candidat prône une non-intervention de l'État tout en évoquant que les méthodes gauchistes radicales viennent restreindre le marché. « Pensons à la pêche. Il y a moyen de cohabiter intelligemment avec la faune marine au lieu de simplement imposer des interdictions pour certaines périodes. On peut poursuivre la pêche sans nuire aux espèces marines.» Éric Hébert sera d'ailleurs sur le terrain à temps plein à la fin de l'été pour aller à la rencontre des gens. « Je mise sur des rencontres de qualité. Au lieu de faire du porte-à-porte à coups de trente secondes, je préfère m'assoir avec des groupes de citoyens et échanger avec eux. Par la suite, libre à eux de voter ou non pour moi et de partager ma vision avec d'autres électeurs. » Le portrait est donc pratiquement complet en Gaspésie et aux Îles pour les élections du 21 octobre prochain. La députée sortante, Diane Lebouthillier sollicitera un deuxième mandat pour le Parti libéral alors que Jean-Pierre Pigeon tentera à nouveau sa chance avec le Parti conservateur du Canada. Quant au maire de Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis, il portera les couleurs du Bloc québécois. Avec l'annonce de la candidature d'Éric Hébert, il ne manque plus que le candidat néo-démocrate à rejoindre la ligne de départ.
The People's Party of Canada Maxime Bernier took advantage of a visit to Quebec to present a part of his team including Eric Hébert, who coveted the seat of MP in the Gaspé-Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine riding.
Adopted Gaspesian Éric Hébert is a geologist by training. He holds a PhD in mineral resources from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. The latter decided to settle in the Gaspé after his studies, first in Saint-Alphonse then in Murdochville then, where he still lives. "My job leads me to travel across Canada. Currently, I work in the Northwest Territories. I have my income elsewhere but I spend it here in Gaspésie, "he says.
The candidate does not hide his interest in everything related to the environment. According to him, contrary to what is conveyed, there are several solutions to fight against the current problems and the People's Party of Canada is the ideal place to make these ideas progress. "I chose Maxime Bernier's team because of its flexibility. It promotes debate and ideas and encourages individual freedom to express oneself. It does not impose a party line. "
Evacuate leftist discourse
Éric Hébert believes that it is time for the population to hear another speech than that conveyed by the left. "Currently, we are talking about carbon taxes, restricting people's freedoms and imposing limits. I advocate more of an approach where the environment is not a brake on the economy. We must consider the environment as a resource and not a burden, "he adds.
On the question of the pipeline, Éric Hébert believes that we are on the wrong track by demonizing Alberta's oil. "When you import oil from overseas, there are no environmental standards, unlike companies in North America that invest a lot of money to offer greener technologies that reduce greenhouse gases. "
On a more local level, he believes that oil exploitation in Gaspésie is a non-issue since companies are far from cutting lip. "Traditionally, in mineral exploration, finding a deposit is like winning the lottery. It is not tomorrow that we will see a functional well so we must not go scared with oil in Gaspésie. "
As for economic development, the candidate advocates non-intervention by the state while suggesting that radical leftist methods are restricting the market. "Let's think about fishing. It is possible to cohabit intelligently with the marine fauna instead of simply imposing prohibitions for certain periods. We can continue fishing without harming marine species. "
Éric Hébert will be on the field full time at the end of the summer to meet people. "I bet on quality meetings. Instead of going door-to-door in thirty seconds, I prefer to sit down with citizen groups and talk to them. Afterwards, free to vote for them and share my vision with other voters. "
The portrait is almost complete in Gaspésie and the Islands for the elections of October 21st. The outgoing MP Diane Lebouthillier will seek a second term for the Liberal Party while Jean-Pierre Pigeon will again try his luck with the Conservative Party of Canada. As for the mayor of Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis, he will wear the colors of the Bloc Québécois. With the announcement of Éric Hébert's candidacy, all that's missing is the NDP candidate to join the starting line.
With all due respect, I think you missed this part of the article:
"and Saint John Energy will continue to pay significant demand charges to NB Power, in excess of $20 million per year, to reserve generation capacity for itself for when the wind doesn't blow."