26. November 2008 by admin.

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25,000 engineers and skilled tradespeople needed in next six years

Ontario’s auto sector may be shedding jobs by the thousands, but the country’s big power utilities can’t hire skilled workers fast enough.

Canada’s electricity sector needs to hire 25,000 engineers and skilled trades people within the next six years to keep the country’s power system safely and reliably humming, according to a report released yesterday by the Electricity Sector Council.

“They’re starting to go out the door faster than we’re bringing them in,” said Catherine Cottingham, executive director of the government-funded organization that monitors human-resource trends in the sector. “The mid-level roles will feel the biggest crunch.”

About 1,300 positions will need to be filled every year for the next three years, after which the numbers rise dramatically. Within the next four years alone 29 per cent of the workforce is expected to retire.

It’s a demographic trend hitting every industry but the electricity sector is particularly vulnerable because of the specialized nature of the work, especially jobs in the nuclear and transmission sides of the business. The report said the rate of retirement of transmission system workers is expected to jump more than sevenfold next year and ninefold by 2012.

“You can’t just hire a person on Friday and put them on the job on Monday,” said David O’Brien, president of Toronto Hydro Corp. “It takes about four years for us to train a new recruit, so you can put them up on a (hydro) pole to work alone without killing themselves.”

Toronto Hydro, where the average worker is 49, has asked the province’s electricity regulator for a rate hike that would allow the company to accelerate recruitment and training.

Hydro One CEO Laura Formusa, in a speech earlier this year, said “We are grappling with one of the single greatest human resource challenges our industry has ever confronted,” as the transmission system giant expects 30 per cent of its workforce to retire within the next few years.

Ontario Power Generation, which operates nuclear, hydroelectric, and fossil fuel power plants, sees 25 per cent of its workforce needing replacement by 2012.

All this, while Toronto Hydro will lose about a third of its 1,600 workers in five years.

The council said the industry must to do a better job promoting itself as a career path at a time when enrolment in electrical engineering programs is falling and competition for skills from other industries is rising. This is includes working more closely with post-secondary institutions to develop programs relevant to the sector.

An emphasis on recruiting foreign-trained workers and underemployed groups, such as women and visible minorities, would also help alleviate the crunch, it said.

Linda McRae, OPG vice-president of corporate human resources, said the industry needs to look more closely at how workers from other struggling sectors, such as automotive, can move to the power sector.

“It makes perfect sense,” she said, “though it doesn’t mean you can pull someone from GM and have them working for OPG tomorrow.”

But O’Brien said the potential is there. “It’s what we should all be sitting down and talking about. Is there a strategy that can get these industries working together?”

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19. November 2008 by admin.

A blown fuse at a TVA substation caused a widespread power outage in Bradley, McMinn and Polk counties Tuesday evening.

Pat Ensley, manager of operations for Cleveland Utilities said Cleveland Utilities customers were not affected.

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17. November 2008 by admin.

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Visit www.AuroraGenerators.com Don’t get left in the dark!

Hydro One restores power to more than 120,000 customers in the wake of winter storm

TORONTO, Nov. 17 /CNW/ - Hydro One has restored power to more than
120,000 customers affected by high winds and heavy snow that began late
Saturday night. The Company is still working to restore electricity to the
approximately 36,000 Hydro One customers who are still without power this
morning.
Hydro One crews have been busy assessing and repairing the damage
resulting from the storm since early Saturday evening. Crews report that they
continue to see significant numbers of downed poles and trees on lines. While
poor weather has mostly subsided, some areas continue to experience windy
conditions which are hampering efforts and bringing new outages.
Crews are being moved from across the province to aid in the restoration
effort, and more than 800 staff are involved. The Company expects that some
customers in the hardest hit and remote areas may be without power until later
this week. The Company will continue to update the status of its restoration
efforts.

<<
The most impacted areas include:

——————————————
Number of Hydro One
Area Most Impacted Customers Affected
——————————————
Penetanguishene 10,000
——————————————
Bracebridge 9,400
——————————————
Barrie 6,000
——————————————
Orillia 6,000
——————————————
Huntsville 4,000
——————————————
Minden 1,400
——————————————
>>

“Power outages in the winter are a serious concern for our customers and
we will do all possible to have people restored as quickly and safely as we
can,” said Myles D’Arcey, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations, Hydro
One. “We will continue to deploy all available resources to restore power and
as power is restored in one area, crews will be redeployed to assist with
further restoration efforts.”

Important Safety Information

Hydro One strongly urges people to take extra precaution near fallen
power lines. Even if a fallen wire seems dead, it can be dangerous. People are
urged to report to Hydro One the location of the fallen wires as soon as
possible. Touching a vehicle that is in contact with a power line can be
fatal.
For the most recent information on power outages go to
www.HydroOneNetworks.com.

Hydro One delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes
and businesses across the province of Ontario and owns and operates Ontario’s
28,000 kilometre high-voltage transmission network that delivers electricity
to large industrial customers and municipal utilities, and a 125,000 kilometre
low-voltage distribution system that serves about 1.3 million end-use
customers and smaller municipal utilities in the province. Hydro One is wholly
owned by the Province of Ontario.

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16. November 2008 by admin.

Need a generator? You can pick one up from www.AuroraGenerators.com

Thousands of homes in our region are without power today.

Hydro One says 35 thousand homes in Penetanguishene, Orillia, Huntsville and Bracebridge are in the dark.

That’s out of a total of 45 thousand hydro one customers across the province without power.

About 27 hundred homes in Collingwood, Essa Township and Sunnidale Corners are also without power.

Hydro One Spokesperson Corey Labatt says the wintery weather has knocked out the power and downed trees.

He says their helicopters are grounded so they can’t even assess some of the damage in some more remote areas.

Labatt says they will bringing in crews from across the province to get power back on hopefully by the end of the day, but some homes may have to go another night without hydro.

He adds power is likely to go off and on through out the day as the storm continues, particularly to the north of us.

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15. November 2008 by admin.

Los Angeles   –  Rolling blackouts were snarling traffic and trapping people in elevators in three sections of Los Angeles today. as the city grappled with a major power shortage due to the Sylmar-area brushfire.

This follows an announcement by the Department of Water and Power that it would institute rolling blackouts to reduce load on its system, as power lines in the Newhall Pass area have been taken out of service as the fire burns through the area.

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10. November 2008 by admin.

TORONTO — Electricity has been cut to more than over 12,000 Hydro One customers north of Toronto.The utility’s website says over 10,800 customers were affected shortly after 10 a.m. in King City, Uxbridge, Markham and surrounding areas, The cause of the outage has not yet been determined, but Hydro One says service is expected to be restored by just after 1 p.m.

Another outage hit 1,500 customers in the Bracebridge area.

Most of those homes and businesses are expected to have their electricity back between 12 p.m. and 12:45 p.m.

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6. November 2008 by admin.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Portable Generators

Units: About 13,000

Importer: General Power Products LLC, of Loveland, Ohio

Hazard: The generator’s fuel valve can be damaged by the cover plate during shipment and cause a fuel leak and fuel spillage during use, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: General Power Products has received 14 reports of damaged fuel valves. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall includes the General Power Products 6000 Watt portable generator and the Poulan Pro 6000 Watt portable generator with serial numbers 060400483 through 060600725. The serial number is stamped on the engine block which is located on the front of the engine below the generator’s control panel. General Power Products and 6000 Generator are printed on the side of the General Power Products generator. Poulan Pro and 6000 watts are printed on the side of the Poulan Pro generator.

Sold at: Hardware and home improvement stores primarily located in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas from June 2008 through September 2008 for between $600 and $800.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the generators and contact General Power Products to determine if the generators fuel valve is damaged and, if it is, to receive a free repair kit and instructions.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact General Power Products toll-free at (877) 428-3769 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or visit the firms Web site at www.generalpowerproducts.com

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