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Blackouts are in our future Hydro looks for ways to cope By SUE BURKE Examiner Staff Reporter Ontario Hydro is examin ing ways it can help area business and industry cope with blackouts enforced to handle peak power demands says local spokesman Bruce Graham marketing manager for the Georgian Bay region says studies are being done as part of Hydros conservation program on coping with power outages During critical peak last December 26 area com panies paying lower rates for interruptible service and iome Tecumseth residents went without power during enforced outages Graham says Hydro of ficials dont expect repeat of that experience this winter but says blackouts could become more common as power sup lies diminish really ont see pro blem this winter he said But its going to start in 1978 and 1979 Harold Parker residential and agricultural applications supervisor for the region says the 19805 will have more enforced blackouts as the situa tion worsens How many there will be depends on whether the load growth continues at the same rate he said At the rate weve been go ing weve been doubling the load every few years Most local business and in dustry cant hope to do much at the moment in terms of standby power says Graham know farmers with small chickens always pro vide standby generation and know number of com panies have some kind of auxiliary lighting he said but they cant keep their machines running lSMINUIES Graham says enforced blackouts which Barries Public Utilities Commission PUC warned could occur this winter in letters to local industry would only last for 15minutes We would rotate 15 minute interruptions during our loadshedding pro cedure he said so people could generally continue their business after the 15 minutebreak Power Outages are last resort says Graham Other options used by Hydro before blackouts would include letters such as those Working by candlelight mailed by PUC to local in dustry as warning cutoff of energy ex ports urchase of power from interconnected utilities voltage reductions of up to five per cent cutting off certain interruptible companies and use of combustion turbine generating units If we see problem building up we issue public appeal before any reductions are enforced he said We would go to three per cent reductions then five per cent and finally major ap peal to people to stop using power he said Last Decembers partial appeal received fair response says Graham FUTURE YEARS Depite official predictions there shouldnt be enforced outages this winter they re main possibility for future years says Graham We know the problem will continue to increase in inten sity as our resources in crease he said Parker says officials an ticipate blackouts may be needed in the 19805 to handle the increasing load unless something is done to reduce demand Hydro officials are looking at ways they can advise business and industry on how to cope with outages both men say but no advice will be issued until next year If we start issuing wam ings and advice now and nothing happens people will quickly forget says Graham Some Barrie businesses will be ready If Ontario Hydro does en force blackouts this winter to handle heavy power demands some Barrie businesses and industries willbeready Bell Telephone can con tinue processing calls on power generated by batteries and diesel fuel Canadian Tire and Miracle Mart in the Bavfield Mall would have the POWer through gasoperated power plants to keep cash registers operating and business nor mal during blackouts And police and fire depart ments could keep com munication lines open with emergency power generators survey of local industry business and public buildings reveals number of Barrie buildings have some auxgt iliary power to activate lighting during power outages Emergency services have generators ready at all times say police fire and hospitals kesmen Auxi lary power is always incorporated into fire and police department buildings says Chief Jack McAllister of the Barrie fire department Its necessity in any emergency service The fire and police depart ments at 65 Vespra St are powered by gasoline and batteryoperated generators says Sgt Ralph Berry of the city police force In the old section of the building there is gas powered generator that turns on when the power fails he says while in new section of police offices the sytem IS batteryoperatea In the Ontario Provincial Police station in Barrie com munication lines are kept open with gaspowered generator kept in the station garage says Cpl Wes Pro sser Weve got enough power to keep the vital machines in operation he said Barries Royal Victoria Hospital is fed power by dieselpowered generator during failures says ad ministrator Donald Cameron Lights would be kept on in all vital areas of the hospital he says In Barries two enclosed shopping malls shoppers wont be left groping in the dark say mall managers In our main mall we have batteryfed system that keeps the main hallways lit says Jerry McComb manager of the Bayfield Mall Individual shops are im mediately closed because they arent hooked into the system says McComb Canadian Tire and Miracle Mart erate off separate power ants in emergencies and can continue business he says Corridors and washrooms remain lit during power failures at the Georgian Mall with batteryoperated generator sa mall spokesman whi Sears has its own emergency source In industry number of Barrie plants have some aux iliary source of light used to guide employees safely out of buildings during blackouts say industry spokesmen At MansfieldDenman General there are 20 minutes of emergency lighting powered by batteries to permit evacuation says spokesman Ben Flook The lights are placed in main aisles and exits Ray Harris of Cooper Tool another company with just enough emergency power to light main aisles says aux iliary lighting isnt much in compensation for industries stalled by blackouts EQUIPMENT USELESS The problem is not so much providing light but keeping machines operating he said in an in terview As far as equip ment is concerned its useless in blackout Harris says Cooper Tool is subject to number of elec trical storms and resulting blackouts and has employees wait 20 minutes during blackouts to see if the failure is only temporary After 20 or 30 minutes decision is made to wait out the problem or send the workers home he said He says Ontario Ilydros possible resort of 15minute outages to cut energy use leaves business paying em loyees who cant work wit out power Who pays the 300 employees while this blackout is in effect he asked Obviously we do because of our contract but why should we be penalized We pay our bills Cooper Tool has considered standby generators says Harris but the cost $40000 to $50000 is prohibitive How can you justify the cost when you cant an ticipate how many blackouts there could be he asked Its one of those situations where youre damned if you do and damned if you dont he says All we can do is prepare for blackouts close down while theyre on and hope we can start up again soon LEFT WAITING Small business in Barrie would also be left waiting Bob Hollywood general manager of the Greater Bar rie Chamber of Commerce think it would be rare to have any kind of auxiliary ower in the smaller usinesscs he said in an in tervicw If youre in hospital generator is necessary but doubt smaller businesses would pay the price for one He its matter of pride among most Barrie merchants that Ontario Hydro never leaves the lights out long in emergencies Another part of Harrie life that could grind to halt without power is business at city hall While Barrics modern courthouse has auxiliary power all city hall has are the flickering lights of cigarette lighters and mat chcs put into emergency use says Peter Westwood deputy city clerk When blackout occurs were in the dark like everybody else he said But then were often inthedark SCHOOLS VARY School buildings in Barrie have some emergency lighting ranging from dim hallwa lights to full power in assrooms says spokesmen for Simcoc Coun tys ublic and separate schoo boards Two of Barries separate schools now have auxiliary power while three more are etting systems installed in next we weeks says At Collins supervisor of but others will be left in the dark buildings for the separate school board In newer schools emergen cy lighting powered by bat teries will light classrooms change rooms and gym nasiums as well as hallways llcsaid Jack Ramsay director of education for the public school board says emergen cy lighting exists in the public systems schools in main hallways only Were hoping we wont have problems with power outages this winter he said We dont anticipate any As for Barries restaurants all you may have is light from candles to light your meals during possible blackouts this winter say restaurant spokesmen Maude Kourys Steak House and Ponderosa Steak House have no emergency lighting other than candles The Crock and Block on Hayfield Street has its own emergency power sources The batteryoperated generator will bring lights on says manager Fred Pollcy but it wont save food in the freezers from thawing Both Mothers Pizza Parlour and ghetti House and McDonal can operate some lights during blackouts says spokesmen But ordering food is dif ferent matter As for Barries residential areas Hydro officials are recommending houses be stacked with battery flashlights and candles just in case Blackouts may not come this winter they say but its better to be prepared than to be caught short and in the dark the examiner Saturday Nov 12 1977 13 Chapelton Homes marks first anniversary hapelton Homes recently celebrated its first year in Letitia Heights with birthday party for residents and guests Karl Just president of hapelton Homes said Its hard to believe that just over year ago Letitia Heights was nothing but bush and fields The company has just completed its commitment in Letitia Heights with about 40 homes left to be sold Gathering around the birthday cake are left Gordon Madge sales manager for Consumers Gas Chris Spanis city building inspector Just and Ald Fred Ruemper Badcheque artists had better beware TORONTO tCPt David Harrison is in the cheque bouncing game He catches As Toronto managing direc tor of Telecheck Canada he has stacks of statistics to go with his job of insuring merchants against badcheque artists If cheque authorized by Telecheck turns out to be dud Harrison buys the cheque from the merchant and then tries to collect Merchants pay for the ser vice About 550 Toronto stores have signed up for Telecheck since last October Harrison has amassed list of 50000 badche ue passers since he opened for usiness Every time name goes into his computer program for bad cheque it stays there until the cheque is made good he said Between 2000 and 3000 names are added monthly Telecheck was developed in Hawaii and its Canadian fran chise is owned by Laurentide Financial Corp Vancouver subsidiary of Power Corp of Canada Ltd Montreal When Harrison gets bad cheque he sends the author notice asking for payment If this doesnt produce results second notice alludes to the fact that writing bad cheque is an offence under the Criminal Code If that fails Harrison sues in small claims court If he finds persistent offender he reports the matter to police CN will not Most Telecheck merchants pay onetime fee of $35 to get the service and monthly rate of $25 which covers $2500 wor th of cheques Small merchants may make other arrangements including getting information on names of people at 40 to 50 cents each They pay fee of two per cent of the face value of any cheques validated by Telecheck In order to answer merchant calls on 24hour basis Telecheck here has 16 telephone operators If there is no adverse information in the files on the customer verification num ber is issued for the cheque But if Telecheck refuses the cheque the merchant hands the issuer card which says the stores policy is to accept cheques only if they are ap proved by Telecheck The Telecheck merchant displays decal identifying the service which Harrison said is warning to badcheque ar tists He said all information in Telechecks computer is kept in Canada and it does not provide coverage on United States cheques near border points He said most bad cheques are written by women It is usually not just an oversight or case of poor bookkeeping they hope the cheque will go through but something else comes in ahead of it usually case of wishful thinking electrify TorontoMontreal line BELLEVILLE Ont CPI Canadian National Railways cannot afford electrification of its line between Montreal and Toronto company official said this week Robert Burns manager of the railways Rideau area which includes the Montreal Toronto line said the interest Noranda reports low profit TORONTO CP Noranda Mines Ltd of Toronto reports quarter earnings of $49 million which it describes as far from satisfactory The company in report this week to shareholders said the thirdquarter rofits compared with $144 mil ion in the same period in 1976 For the first nine months of this year the earnings were $371 million or $157 share compared with $301 million or $127 share for the similar period in 1976 Lower thirdquarter profits were blamed on reduced copper and zinc rices and weak de mand fort metals The company said the on bright spot was in forest prod ucts Mcause of strong lumber markets Its forest products op erations helped also the de valued Canadian dol ar had the best quarter of earnings on record Noranda has been cutting production and eliminating ms in the last three years ause of poor markets Since 1975 the number of emJiloyees in Canadian mining an metallurgical operations has been reduced by 15 per cent the company said Fur ther reductions may be neces sary on the money the company would have to borrow wou be overwhelming However as the price of fos sil fuels increases elec trification is becoming more practical proposition he said The MontrealToronto line with its heavy volume of traf fic would be an excellent choice for the expensive con version he said Earlier this year the Cana dian Institute for Guided Ground Transport associated with Queens University in Kingston Ont recommended that 9500 miles of Canadian railway lines be converted to an electrified system during the next 30 years at total cost of $18billion Mrs Easton of Mineslng won last DOUHC business notes Partial move to Kitchener KITCHENER Ont CP Prudential Assurance Co Ltd eneral and life insurance firm based in London am this week it is moving its 60man data processing operations to Kitchener from Montreal in 1978 Doug Sme thers Prudentials vicepresident of services in Canada said in an interview he would not comment on whether the political climate in Quebec was responsible for the move He said there are no plans to move Prudentials Canadian head office from Montreal Prairie Oil profit grows CALGARY CP An increase in revenue cash flow anc net earnings for the first nine months of 1977 were reported this week by Prairie Oil Royalties Co Ltd In news release the company said net earnings were $1205000 or 61 cents share compared with net earnings before an extraor dinary item in the same period last year of $877000 or 45 cents share Oil companies buy lease CALGARY CF No rebates in Canada WINDSOR Ont CP spokesman for Chrysler Canada Ltd said this week the company has no plans to extend rebate offer announced in the United States to Canadian buyers Chrysler Corp said in Detroit it will offer $150 cash rebates to some buyers of 1978 intermediatesize models in test marketing program The rebates will go to selected current owners of Chrysler cars who purchase 1978 Dodge Monaco or Plymouth Fury prior to Jan Sales of Monaco and Fury models are down sli last year Both nameplates are due to be hased out at the end of the 1978m0del run as part of sizing program it weeks rges extreme caution WILMA PAVLIK chairs committee eels of Yestery group of oil companies including Imperial Oil Ltd paid $69 million for lease in the Foothills region at the Alberta governments weekly oil and natural gas rights sale this week Total proceeds from the sale were $223 million up from $121 million last week waterfront ghtly from yslers down City officials should use extreme caution in allow ing commercial development of the Kempenfelt Ba waterfront the citizens visory committee for the ci tys core revitalization study has recommended The recommendation was one of number endorsed this week by the committee chaired by Wilma Pavlik The committee also recom mended that Lakeshore Drive remain parkway and not be turned into major arterial route In other recommendations for the waterfront the com mittee endorsed the citys in volvement in providing boat slips called for second marina site rather than ex pansion of the present site if more slips are needed and asked for consideration of variety of additions to the ear Contest by correctly Iden tifying the automobile as 1961 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan Mrs Easton wins Slo gift certlficate good only at Brass and Glenn on Dunlop Street If you can Identify this weeks automobile send your entry to Wheels of Yesteryear The Examiner Box 370 Barrie Ont AM wit