"Our children and grandchildren will thank us for this," predicted John Brace, president of the Independent Power Producers' Society of Ontario (IPPSO) as Ontario's electricity system entered its first day of operation as a competitive marketplace. "Competition in electricity will be a big win for consumers, producers and the economy as a whole. We congratulate the government of Ontario for sticking to its vision of a competitive marketplace and encourage all parties to keep working to make the system even more competitive in the future." Brace also said that "Our members look forward to the opportunity to compete and build new power plants to supply the province's electricity marketplace."

Competition between generators at the wholesale level is only part of the solution to the issues of the electricity sector, IPPSO cautions, but it does represent "the greatest single improvement in the system in the last generation." The benefits of wholesale competition are:

• Consumers will no longer be forced to pay for the costly mistakes of generation companies.
• Competition will create downward pressure on prices
• Competition will drive suppliers to innovate and find new ways of attracting and retaining customers.
• There will be opportunities created for new players including high-efficiency and green power projects.

"For the first time in history, there is an open playing field for electricity in Ontario," said IPPSO Executive Director Jake Brooks. "Before, new generators weren't even allowed to come onto the field. Now electricity suppliers are going to have to earn the customer's business, which will force everyone to be more efficient."

IPPSO is a non-profit association of more than 100 organizations engaged in the generation of electricity in Ontario. For more than a decade, IPPSO has advocated competition, open markets, and improved environmental standards for the electric power industry.

For more information, contact:
Jake Brooks, Executive Director, 416-322-6549 ippso@ippso.org
John Brace, President 416-962-6262
Rob McLeese, Past President 416-368-4820

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For further information:
e-mail: ippso@ippso.org     website: http://www.newenergy.org
                                
                             

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