The following profile was prepared and disseminated by the IESO as part of a series about members of the IESO Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC provides advice to the IESO Board of Directors and Executive on market development and planning decisions and welcomes participation by all stakeholders.
Generator sector representatives David Butters and Craig Martin want to ensure that all generators in Ontario know they can provide strategic input to the IESO through the Stakeholder Advisory Committee. “People can speak to a SAC generator rep. – we are here and we are independent of other associations and we are happy to represent the interests of all generators,” said Mr. Martin, at the Toronto offices of TransCanada Energy Ltd., where he is Director, Eastern Canada Power.
Mr. Butters, President of APPrO, explained further: “As we are working through solutions and getting a better-integrated system, everybody has to have a better understanding of other people’s perspectives and business priorities.” Mr. Martin added that it will be particularly important for new market entrants, such as renewable generators, to understand any potential impacts of change.
Avoiding negative consequences of change tops the list of generator sector priorities. “The generators are keen to do whatever needs to be done to keep the system running reliably and efficiently, but the respect for the contract needs to stay there,” Mr. Martin said, referring to various types of long-term power purchase agreements generators have negotiated to provide electricity in Ontario. “We have long-lived assets – we’re here for the long haul – so we need to make sure that we are economically and commercially sustainable.”
Ontario’s generation mix is among the most diverse and robust in Canada, with supply coming from practically every source: nuclear, hydro, wind and solar, natural gas, biomass, and – in the short term – coal. But Mr. Butters and Mr. Martin feel that they have common interests and a common stake in the province.
“Generators are commercial entities,” said Mr. Butters. “But I think it’s fair to say they also recognize that they are making a fundamental input into the economy and to the extent that the economy is doing well or not doing well, generators also do well. So we don’t only look at things from the perspective of our own pocketbooks and our own shareholders, we also understand that we are operating in a wider context and at the end of the day, ratepayers have to pay. You have to think about the right balance between all these things.”
Generators in Ontario are invited to contact David Butters (