To the editor,
I wanted to address comments made in a recent letter to the editor that Northwestern Ontario does not use nuclear power.
To say that we do not use nuclear power in the Northwest is factually incorrect. To try and quantify ‘how much’ we use misses the point of how the grid is designed and how it works.
According to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), electricity is similar to water in that there is no way to determine the origin of each electron once it enters the provincial transmission system. Our grid spans the entire province and power generated in one part of the province can help keep the lights on in another part of the province.
The fact is Ontario can simultaneously be using Ontario generated power, importing power from the U.S., Manitoba and Quebec, and exporting power on any given day, at any given moment.
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is central to this discussion. They deliver key services across the electricity sector including: managing the power system in real-time, planning for the province's future energy needs, enabling conservation and designing a more efficient electricity marketplace to support sector evolution.
Their website has a lot of excellent information about Ontario’s energy grid and also includes videos that help explain Ontario’s energy mix: youtube.com/watch?v=x2bDh5JuDhc
If anyone has questions about the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, please reach out to us contactus@nwmo.ca.
Kind regards,
Vince Ponka
Regional Communications Manager – Northern Ontario
Nuclear Waste Management Organization
