Regional Power has been in the business of developing and operating hydroelectric power plants since 1985.
Operations
Regional Power, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial, has been in the business of developing, building, refurbishing and operating hydroelectric power plants for over 25 years.
Currently, Regional Power operates six hydro plants with a total generating capacity of 36 megawatts.
- Developed 3 greenfield hydroelectric plants (two in BC and one in Ontario)
- Rehabilitated 3 existing power plants in Northern Ontario
In 2001, Regional sold these plants to Clean Power Income Trust (now Capstone Infrastructure Corporation). Regional continues to operate these assets for Capstone under a long term contract.
In Development
Regional Power has ten projects in various stages of development with an estimated 356MW of total generating capacity.
Regional has seven hydroelectric development sites at advanced stages of development with a total estimated generating capacity of 248 MW.
- 4 in British Columbia (Upper and Lower Bear Creek, Long Lake, and Ryan River),
- 2 in Northern Ontario (Upper and Lower White River), and
- 1 in Northwestern Quebec (Angliers).
In addition, Regional has the rights to five other sites which, once they obtain power purchase agreements and are completed, would have an aggregate capacity of 108 MW.
- 3 in British Columbia
- 1 in Ontario, and
- 1 in Quebec
History
1985: Regional Power began business developing and operating hydroelectric power plants. Since that time David Carter and Colin Coolican (since 1990) have been involved in the management of the company.
1986: Regional Power purchased and rehabilitated three power plants located in the vicinity of the Town of Dryden, Ontario.
1992: Wawatay Generating Station was completed.
1996: Manulife Financial became the major shareholder of Regional Power.
1997: Sechelt Creek Generating Station was completed.
1999: Dease Lake Generating Station was completed.
2001: Regional sold six power plants (3 developed and 3 rehabilitated by Regional) to Clean Power Income Trust (CPI) (now Capstone Infrastructure Corporation). Regional continues to operate these assets for Capstone under a long term contract.
Currently: Regional has seven hydroelectric development sites at advanced stages of development. In addition, Regional has the rights to five other sites.
Canadian Power Generation Industry
In Canada, jurisdiction over the power generation industry falls under the mandate of the provinces. At present, all of the provinces have regulated market structures, with the exception of Alberta.
The provinces have each set Renewable Portfolio Standards (“RPS”) which mandate that a certain minimum proportion of generation must come from renewables.
Construction of new renewable generation has been outsourced to independent power producers (“IPPs”) from the incumbent utilities owned by the provinces.
The RFPs result in the awarding of Electricity Purchase Agreements (“EPAs”) that typically provide 25 to 40 years supply awards with formulaic pricing.
The stability of the terms of contracts with highly rated provincial utilities allows IPPs to raise substantial amounts of debt to finance construction of power plants.
Ontario, Québec and British Columbia offer IPPs the most attractive investment opportunities based on regulatory support for renewable power.