On Earth Day, a real present for Mother Earth: 5,500 megawatts of zero-carbon electricity

All Bruce Power nuclear reactors are running, as of just this afternoon. This is the first time since 1996 that the plant’s 8 units have all been running, and the first time in Bruce Power’s history. As I mentioned in early April, Bruce Power is a hugely successful public-private partnership that began in 2001 in the wake of the massive restructuring of Ontario’s electricity sector.

This is huge good news, for Ontario, for Canada, and for the planet. Bruce Power is the biggest clean energy centre in the western hemisphere. It is a model of what we humans need to do in order to develop our economies without destroying the environment.

With this massive clean energy centre running on all eight cylinders, the carbon intensity per kilowatt-hour (CIPK) of Ontario electricity is, as of three p.m. on Monday April 22 2013, a very clean 60.8 grams. Wind is playing only a very minor role in this: the whole wind fleet at this time is not even running at 17 percent.

So, happy Earth Day, Mother Earth.