Bruce Power generates record amount of low-cost electricity in 2017

The Bruce Power site has generated a record amount of electricity in 2017.


The new, single-year site record of 46.6 terawatt-hours of carbon-free energy was set Dec. 15, with two weeks still remaining in 2017. This surpassed the previous records set in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 1993.

This strong performance is due to the people and investments in operational excellence, equipment, and a new site peak output of 6,400 megawatts, which was achieved in 2016, states a press release from Bruce Power.

“Our commitment to operational excellence, combined with our ongoing investment and innovation program, has led to record output this year, which is good news for families and businesses,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s president and chief executive officer. “Bruce Power generates 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity at 30-per-cent less than the average cost to generate residential power.”

The extra electricity that Bruce Power is expected to generate over the last half of December is enough to power an additional 278,000 homes over the previous site record. In all, Bruce Power generated enough electricity to power more than 5.2-million homes for the full year in 2017.

Throughout 2017, Bruce Power nuclear received less than seven cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is less than the provincial average of 11.5 cents per kWh. That's why Ontario’s government – through the 2017 Long-Term Energy Plan, released in October – is counting on eight units of low-cost electricity from the Bruce Power site through 2064.

Bruce Power’s role as a low-cost generator was also reinforced through an independent report released last month by the Financial Accountability Office, which concluded, “There is currently no portfolio of alternative low-emissions generation which could replace nuclear generation at a comparable cost.”