By William Watson, Ottawa Citizen, August 25, 2014
At their meeting last week, Premiers Philippe Couillard and Kathleen Wynne
reportedly reviewed economic studies showing their two provinces would gain if
Ontario bought more electricity from Quebec. My guess is this is a file that in
their secret hearts they’d really rather not be responsible for — assuming, that
is, politicians have hearts and know what a secret is.There are lots of things
modern governments need to do. Deciding where people buy their electricity isn’t
one of them. Retail sellers of electricity in Ontario have to get their
wholesale power from somewhere. Lots of producers are willing to supply it,
including Quebec. Whether they do buy from Quebec isn’t really something their
premier has to get involved in. How much does Quebec power cost? How reliable is
it? Can supply be ramped up quickly? Buyers know their needs. Sellers know what
they can supply. Deciding who buys how much, where, and at what price is the
kind of thing markets do really well. via
Watson: Many good reasons to oppose provincial energy monopolies | Ottawa
Citizen.