This Is Why Ontario Electricity Costs So Much: Here’s What We’re Reading
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Here’s what we’re reading today.
1. Since 2006, the top rate for power in Ontario has risen four times as fast as inflation. Here’s why
“The government went on a building spree, upgrading aging infrastructure and commissioning new natural gas, wind and solar plants to replace the coal plants.
“But, wary of the previous cost overruns at Ontario Hydro, the government decided to outsource the work of building and running the new power plants to the private sector. The private sector would be responsible for cost overruns and other construction problems in exchange for 20-year contracts from the province. The contracts essentially guaranteed that the companies would receive a certain amount of revenue – no matter how much electricity their plants produced.”
2. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, to be named Senior White House advisor
Kushner, who married Ivanka Trump in 2009, “is expected to play the same role in the White House, with the counselors Stephen K. Bannon and Kellyanne Conway providing the president-elect with strategic, messaging and communications advice, and Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and the incoming chief of staff, running day-to-day operations in the West Wing.” The appointment is expected to challenge the United States’ anti-nepotism laws.
+1: “Jared Kushner is more like his father-in-law than anyone imagines.” – New York Magazine
+1: Gun silencers are hard to buy. Donald Trump Jr. and silencer makers want to change that. – Washington Post
3. North Korea says it can test-launch ICBM at any time
“North Korea declared Sunday that it could test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, at any time from any location set by leader Kim Jong Un, saying a hostile U.S. policy was to blame for its arms development.”
– NBC News
4. The iPhone remade Apple 10 years ago. Now it’s slowing Apple down
“Apple is facing a turning point, and once again the iPhone is the reason—but not in a good way this time around. The smartphone market is saturated. Rivals, especially Google, are building hardware that truly rivals the iPhone. After 10 years, the iPhone can no longer serve as Apple’s growth engine. The company now faces the same challenge it did a decade ago: figuring out what’s next.”
– Wired
5. How the ellipsis became the ultimate power move
“When did those three little dots go from collegial to contemptuous?”
