Energy chief announces resignation
Toronto — Former NDP finance minister Floyd Laughren has submitted his resignation as chairman of the Ontario Energy Board and will leave the post at the end of December.
Mr. Laughren told a Sudbury, Ont., television station late Wednesday that although he submitted his resignation earlier in the day, it isn't a recent decision.
He told MCTV Sudbury that he informed the premier's office in the summer that it was his time to leave and initially wanted to depart at the end of November. However, he was convinced to stay until year's end.
Mr. Laughren, 67, told MCTV that Premier Ernie Eves's criticism of him last week had nothing to do with his decision to leave.
"I didn't like the comments," he said, but added that if he was really angry, he would have chosen to stay.
The energy board, which regulates industry participants and monitors electricity markets in the province, was criticized last week during a speech by Mr. Eves.
"The Ontario Energy Board, who were supposed to protect consumers in the province of Ontario — that is their primary function — under the leadership of that great socialist Floyd Laughren, have sometimes seemed to protect producers and distributors more than they have consumers," Mr. Eves said.
One industry expert said the Ontario government put Mr. Laughren, a former provincial NDP politician, in an "impossible" position with its many changes to the energy market this week that involve industry participants the board is mandated to monitor.
"It's the result of repeated attacks on the Ontario Energy Board's independence," said Tom Adams of Energy Probe, a staunch critic of the government's handling of the energy market.
The board operates independently from the ministry and all other government departments in the performance of its regulatory functions and responsibilities.
It also has regulatory oversight of both natural gas and electricity matters in the province and provides the government with advice on energy matters.
Government changes to the energy market, announced this week, are meant to compensate irate consumers and businesses for hydro bills that skyrocketed amid high demand and tight supply.
"The government has been scapegoating the Ontario Energy Board for its own failures," Mr. Adams said. "My sense is he just doesn't want to be their scapegoat.
"I'm expecting in the days to follow that we're going to see just a string of resignations and collapse of projects," Mr. Adams added. "Distributors, generators, the IMO (Independent Electricity Market Operator) — the entire market is collapsing."
The Tories are reviewing the board, as well as that of Ontario Power Generation, the Crown-owned company run by chief executive Ron Osborne that generates about 70 per cent of the province's power.
Barry Wilson, a spokesman for the premier, said Wednesday night that Mr. Eves wanted to "thank Mr. Laughren for the work that he did and we wish him well in his future endeavours."
Mr. Laughren had refused to comment on Mr. Eves's speech last week, but a spokesman for the board said Mr. Laughren was mystified by the premier's remarks.
"We're not exactly clear how it is that the OEB allows local distribution companies to be greedy," Tom Park said last week. "The energy board received a directive from the minister on how to roll out that rate of return."
Mr. Laughren served as finance minister under former Ontario premier Bob Rae. He joined the Ontario Energy Board as chair in March 1998, leaving a 27-year career in provincial politics.
Among its various tasks, the board is mandated to help facilitate competition in power generation in the province.
Under numerous changes to the energy market announced by the Tory government this week, it was believed the quasi-judicial board might head the independent inquiry into delays in bringing four nuclear reactors in Pickering, Ont., back into service.
The four units have been off-line since 1997 and Mr. Eves has blamed the delay for taking significant power supply out of the province, leading to soaring hydro bills. The delays have also been cited by private sector power producers as a main reason why they haven't invested in more power plant projects for Ontario, saying they need to know when Pickering's supply is back up so they can assess their market potential.
The board also approves rates for energy distribution and transmission. This week, Mr. Eves said that his new action plan on the energy market, if approved in the legislature, would cap the price consumers pay for delivery at current levels.
Additionally, the board licences all market participants including the IMO, generators, transmitters, distributors, wholesalers and retailers.
At least one retailer — First Source Energy Corp. of Mississauga, Ont. — has announced it is going out of business, while Energy Savings Income Fund of Toronto, which owns Ontario Energy Savings Corp., said it was "indefinitely" suspending its electricity retail operations. |
