Chase Energy Canada Limited

A 2006 British Columbia government initiative to boost the province’s supply of electricity has turned out to be an ill-fated venture for the majority of entrepreneurs who participated in it. Documents recently filed with the B.C. Utilities Commission show that BC Hydro expects the attrition rate among independent power producers who four years ago were awarded electricity supply contracts to reach 63 per cent. Hydro says some projects that are technically still active will be abandoned as rising construction costs over the past four years make them too expensive to pursue, while others have already been cancelled. At least one of the projects on the original list of 38, Dokie Wind, required a secret government-ordered bailout to proceed. Most of the failed and stalled projects are run-of-river hydro. The “industry standard” attrition rate is assumed to be 30 per cent, so Hydro and other utilities assume some projects won’t proceed and plan for that…A Bozeman company that has proposed two small hydroelectric projects on the East and West Rosebud rivers has the go-ahead to conduct feasibility studies. The approval gives the Bozeman-based Hydrodynamics Inc. three years to determine if the hydro projects would be feasible. Last winter, when the public first got wind of the proposals, several area residents sent comments to FERC. They cited concerns about potential effects on fish and the aesthetics of the area. The public will have another opportunity to voice its concerns or support during a meeting scheduled later this month by the Stillwater Protective Association.

Battle River#5 came back online at 16:26…A company that employs 2,400 people in the Lynchburg area announced an alliance Wednesday with a global contractor to develop and deploy the world’s first commercially viable small modular nuclear power plant – Lynchburg-based Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy and Bechtel Power Corp. Babcock & Wilcox has been developing its mPower reactor, capable of generating 125MW of electricity from a reactor about 12 feet wide by 75 feet long. The alliance between the corporations will be known as Generation mPower and, pending regulatory approval and other factors, could deploy its first plant by 2020…Rio Tinto Alcan is expected to take a $100 million (U.S.) hit to its operating income in the second half of 2010 because of low snow and rain levels in Quebec. Low water levels and other factors have constrained Rio Tinto’s ability to produce power for its Quebec smelters, forcing it to buy more electricity than normal or curtail output. Rio’s aluminum smelters are located mainly in the Saguenay region of northeastern Quebec, which has faced the warmest winter in 50 years…According to a report released today by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, refurbishing nuclear facilities at Bruce and Darlington will create 25,000 jobs in the next decade and inject $5 billion into the Ontario economy annually. The current Integrated Power System Plan calls for the refurbishment of all nuclear units at both the Bruce and Darlington sites. Collectively they produce 10,000MW or over 50 percent of Ontario’s electricity.

NOVA/TransCanada Alberta System information as of 5:30 A.M.: Linepack = 14958 which is 305 mmcf BELOW the Linepack target of 15,263 mmcf. The ROC for the past 24 hours is +161 mmcf. The Eastern Borders (Empress and McNeil) collectively is showing a change in flow from yesterday’s by +217 mmcf flowing at 4999 mmcf. ABC shows a change by +296 mmcf flowing at 2264 mmcf. The storage facilities collective rates are currently showing a net INJECTION = 173 mmcf/d (“Negative”…reflects a WITHDRAWAL from storage onto the system) which is a 622 mmcf NET DECREASE in the flow rate from yesterday’s gas day.

Battle River#5 offline at 11:30 yesterday…Vestas Wind Systems said Tuesday it will hire more than 1,000 people at three Colorado plants that manufacture wind turbine components after receiving a surge of orders for the electricity generators in the U.S. and Canada. Vestas said 850 of the jobs will be at two plants that make blades. One is already operating in Windsor and another is nearing completion in Brighton. Vestas has a second plant in Brighton that makes nacelles, housings that contain the turbine’s generator, transformer and gearbox…Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. announced that its German affiliate Asola, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture manufacturing plant in Ontario, Canada, to enable production and distribution of high quality solar modules in Canada. The Canadian partner, Evergreen Power Ltd., is a developer of renewable energy projects, with well-established relationships in the building industry. The planned initial production capacity is 30 MW per year of solar modules incorporating mono- and poly-crystalline silicon solar cells, with a potential to generate revenues in excess of $60 Million annually.  The joint venture company will market solar photovoltaic modules under the “Asola” brand. Quantum owns a 24.9% interest in Asola…Electricity producer Atlantic Power Corporation is investing in its first wind project, with the purchase of a 27% stake in 11 wind farms being built in Idaho. The development company is a partnership between GE Energy Financial Services, Reunion Power and the original developer of the project, Exergy Development Group. The wind developers have 20-year power purchase agreements in place to sell power to the Idaho Power Company at fixed prices.

NOVA/TransCanada Alberta System information as of 5:30 A.M.: Linepack = 14824 which is 439 mmcf BELOW the Linepack target of 15,263 mmcf. The ROC for the past 24 hours is -161 mmcf. The Eastern Borders (Empress and McNeil) collectively is showing a change in flow from yesterday’s by -126 mmcf flowing at 4782 mmcf. ABC shows a change by +91 mmcf flowing at 1968 mmcf. The storage facilities collective rates are currently showing a net INJECTION = 795 mmcf/d (“Negative”…reflects a WITHDRAWAL from storage onto the system) which is a 11 mmcf NET INCREASE in the flow rate from yesterday’s gas day.

NOVA/TransCanada Alberta System information as of 5:30 A.M.: Linepack = 14984 which is 279 mmcf BELOW the Linepack target of 15,263 mmcf. The ROC for the past 24 hours is -172 mmcf. The Eastern Borders (Empress and McNeil) collectively is showing a change in flow from yesterday’s by +269 mmcf flowing at 4908 mmcf. ABC shows a change by -55 mmcf flowing at 1877 mmcf. The storage facilities collective rates are currently showing a net INJECTION = 784 mmcf/d (“Negative”…reflects a WITHDRAWAL from storage onto the system) which is a 96 mmcf NET DECREASE in the flow rate from yesterday’s gas day.

Sundance#5 went offline at 08:35 yesterday and Battle River#5 came back online at 04:30 this morning…The tens of thousands of nodding pump jacks scattered throughout Alberta’s oilfields could soon go green, generating electricity for the power grid while saving firms a cool thousand dollars a month in operating costs for each unit. Canada Control Works Inc. has devised a way to harvest gravity on the down stroke of the pumps, using the concept of kinetic energy found in braking systems for electric cars where energy is fed back into the battery. With four units under test in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada Control was recently given permission to connect to Alberta’s grid. If 1,000 pump jacks were each producing five kilowatts, the resulting five megawatts wouldn’t have a big impact on Alberta’s power plants but this energy takes no fuel to produce…Conditions are ripe for consolidation in Canada’s green energy sector as small, cash-hungry developers seek scarce capital to advance government power contracts through to project construction. These companies make alluring targets for deeper-pocketed players seeking to expand their green-power portfolios with profitable, shovel-ready and secure projects. With 184 green-power projects approved in the province of Ontario and 23 in British Columbia since March, demand for debt financing is expected to far exceed still-stingy supply as the market continues to recover from the credit crunch. All told, the projects represent more than 3,500 megawatts of power and most are expected to start operating between 2011 and 2013. Capital spending will be in the C$13 billion range which means developers could be shopping for close to C$10 billion in debt financing over the next several years.

NOVA/TransCanada Alberta System Linepack: for Friday = 14897, Saturday = 14992 and Sunday = 15173 mmcf which is 90 mmcf BELOW the Linepack target of 15,263 mmcf.  The ROC for the past 24 hours was = +203 mmcf. The Eastern Borders (Empress and McNeil) collectively for the term flowed as follows…… Friday = 4663, Saturday = 4688 and Sunday = 4639 mmcf.  ABC flow for the term ….. Friday = 1974, Saturday = 1860 and Sunday = 1932 and mmcf. Storage flow for the term starting with Friday shows a net INJECTION = 1056, Saturday net INJECTION = 980 and Sunday net INJECTION = 880 mmcf (“Negative”… reflects a WITHDRAWAL from storage onto the system) which is a 100 mmcf NET DECREASE in the INJECTION rate from yesterday’s gas day.

Alberta NIT SPOT Prices for: Friday = $3.37, Saturday = $3.31 and Sunday = $3.31 which is a DECREASE of $0.06 from the last business trading day (Friday) Spot Settlement Price.

Sundance#1 went offline at 11:48 Friday…Alberta, home of the nation’s first commercial wind farm at Pincher Creek in 1993, now ranks third behind Ontario and Quebec in the generation of electricity from wind. Jurisdictions are aggressively competing for investment in everything from the building and manufacturing of blades, turbines and parts to wind farms themselves. In five years, Texas has built three times more wind capacity than all of Canada. Last year, for the first time, wind was the largest source of new electricity generation built in the U.S…The plan for a new wind farm in Prince Edward Island that would produce 130 megawatts of renewable energy for both domestic and export markets could be dead in the water. The successful bidder was expected to provide energy for the domestic market by Oct. 1, 2012, and be ready to export by Oct. 1, 2013…Blue Castle Holdings signed a private-equity agreement with a Wall Street venture capital firm, LeadDog Capital LP for the construction of a nuclear-generating station near Green River, Utah, providing them with a $30 million cache on which it can draw as it seeks a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The $30 million is 30 percent of the estimated $100 million that will be required to complete licensing for the proposed 3,000-megawatt nuclear power plant. The Blue Castle project has attracted the interest of more than 15 utilities, which collectively are seeking new sources of 4,500 megawatts. Blue Castle’s application for water rights for the plant is pending before the Utah state engineer’s office.

NOVA/TransCanada Alberta System information as of 5:30 A.M.: Linepack = 15028 which is 235 mmcf BELOW the Linepack target of 15,263 mmcf. The ROC for the past 24 hours is -67 mmcf. The Eastern Borders (Empress and McNeil) collectively is showing a change in flow from yesterday’s by -52 mmcf flowing at 4874 mmcf. ABC shows a change by +76 mmcf flowing at 1955 mmcf. The storage facilities collective rates are currently showing a net INJECTION = 634 mmcf/d (“Negative”…reflects a WITHDRAWAL from storage onto the system) which is a 98 mmcf NET INCREASE in the flow rate from yesterday’s gas day.