| More than three-quarters of the generating stations
of Canada are operated by utilities. This understates their importance:
since nearly all of the larger plants are operated by utilities,
utility-owned capacity is 94% of total Canadian capacity. Therefore,
given their numbers, size, and importance to Canadians, it is useful
to map the utility stations on the basis of capacity. There are
630 stations shown on this map.
By total capacity, the utility-operated plants have a similar breakdown
to that for total Canadian capacity: about 60% hydro, 30% thermal,
10% nuclear, and 0.01% wind energy. All nuclear and wind energy
plants in Canada are operated by utilities. As well, all of the
plants of 1 000 000 or more kilowatts (kW) are operated by utilities.
Electric power utilities are defined by the North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) as those firms whose business is producing
electricity (as compared to other types of operator who produce
power mainly for on-site consumption). The Statistics Canada database
lists more than 80 companies as utilities. The largest of these
(by capacity operated) are major utilities that distribute and sell
electric power throughout a particular province or territory. In
most provinces or territories, a single utility has this role, but
in others (notably, Alberta, Newfoundland and Yukon) two or more
major utilities serve varying parts of the province or territory.
There are also some utilities serving smaller areas. The largest
of these (measured by total capacity) are the municipally-run utilities
of Edmonton and Winnipeg. Many other municipalities also operate
one or more plants.
Two recent trends have caused a considerable increase in the number
of utility companies and plants. One is the encouragement several
provinces have given to non-utility generation, which means in practice,
that if companies not in the electrical transmission business develop
small hydro sites, major utilities are obliged to transport and
market the power produced. A second, related trend is co-generation:
companies build thermal plants close to heavy industries. The co-generation
companies then sell the power to a utility and sell the by-product
of process heat to nearby industries. The two trends differ sharply
in scope: plants built by non-utility generators are usually small
(often under 5 000 kW), whereas those built for co-generation can
be over 100 000 kW. |
