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Essay On Energy And Infrastructure Law

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Professor: Richard King
Date: DEC 28, 2017
Specialization: Energy and Infrastructure Law Table of Contents
Abstract 1
1. Introduction 2
2 History of Electricity Prices Across Ontario 3
3 Electricity Pricing Mechanism based on Ontario Regulatory System Act 7
4 Reasons Underlying the Increased Cost of Electricity Generation 11
4.1 Elimination of Coal-Based Generators and Termination of the Contracts 11
4.2 Long-term and costly contracts with renewable energy sources 12
4.3 Inadequate audition of organizations involved with the Ontario hydro market 13
4.4 Generation vs. load demand 14
5 Ontario Hydro Rate Cut program 15
6 Discussion on potential solution for mitigate the pricing structure challenges 16
6.1 Offering the …show more content…

In addition, the government hydro rate cut plan, “Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan” for low income families, the 8 percent reduction of HST on electricity for all consumers under a new energy act (Amendment the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 with respect to electricity pricing , Ontario, 2016), as well as the additional 17 percent reduction in electricity fees, which is speculated to result in an extra 25 billion dollars in interest charges will be discussed.
Further, this paper will include a discussion on potential solutions and opportunities to mitigate the pricing structure.

1. Introduction
Presently, Ontario has one of the highest electricity costs in North America (Hydro Quebec, 2016). This trend started when the government decided to transition into a modern, smart, and stable network. To achieve this, more generating plants were built to deliver more high-quality electricity to consumers. Following these changes, there was a shift towards using green energy, which involved development of solar panels and wind systems. Of course, these initiatives were based on anticipated load on the system which was expected to rise as per long-term planning. Following the recession in 2008, the industry was not as hot as it was forecasted, leading to decreased demand for electricity. Therefore, there were many contracts and projects that were in the process of approval and were voided by the government in response to the recession. Despite this, the

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