The British Columbian utility said the decrease in output was due to lower water inflows and unplanned equipment outages at two major units in April. The outages were suffered by one generating unit at the GM Shrum plant in the Peace river region, and a unit at Mica Dam on the Columbia.
However, it noted that the fiscal first quarter to 30 June ended with reservoir storage levels slightly up on average due to higher inflows in the last month.
The outages and low inflows, though, resulted in more expensive electricity being bought on the market. The extra expenses were not offset by the lower costs provided by the higher inflows later in the quarter when market prices were also lower.
Hydro generation was down from 11,531GWh last time to 9,306GWh in the quarter. The cost of hydro generation increased from Can$6.16/MWh to Can$6.86/MWh.
The quarterly hydro performance was outlines as the utility released in financial performance for the three months – net income up to Can$88M (US$) from Can$5M last time.
Domestic revenues, up Can$47M to Can$713M, were buoyed by stronger demand in the residential sector. Trade revenues with Alberta and the western US markets were up 11% to Can$546M.
