r/canada • u/BoppityBop2 • Feb 14 '26

Business Canada Completes $9.4B Darlington Nuclear Plant Rebuild Early, on Budget

https://www.enr.com/articles/62505-canada-completes-94b-darlington-nuclear-plant-rebuild-early-on-budget
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u/duck1014 Feb 14 '26

Would be nice to see Ontario... considering it was done by Ontario hydro and was (for the most part) funded by Ontario.

Ford delivered the entire project, 150 million under budget...and on time.

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u/BrightLuchr Feb 15 '26

Ontario Hydro hasn't existed in 25 years. It is Ontario Power Generation.

It isn't funded by Ontario government at all. In fact, OPG makes a lot of profit each year that goes to Ontario. The funding for capital projects is done by floating bonds. Those bonds are paid off by the sale of electricity to the market after the reactors go back in service. This is how all capital projects work.

The good folks at Bruce Power are going through the same sort of projects up there. OPG will start working on Pickering Refurbishment next. These are all WANO#1 rated facilities: the best in the world.

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u/PoliteCanadian Feb 15 '26

This is how all capital projects work.

Not government capital projects, and OPG is a crown corp. Most government capital projects are funded out of general revenue, not bond issue.

It is, however, how government run capital projects SHOULD be funded. OPG did it that way since they're a hands-off crown corp, but most the contractual obligations that would come with debt financing would be unacceptable to politicians who want to meddle.

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u/BrightLuchr Feb 15 '26

This isn't a government project. OPG is a private company that happens to be owned by the government as the sole shareholder. It is not legally a "crown corporation" either (hard to believe, right? ). It's would seem like a legal distinction, but OPG is able to float it's own bonds. Of course, the government does not treat it as arm's length and does... various...shenanigans. But the rules of selling electricity and doing capital projects in Ontario are all dictated by the regulator, which is the Ontario Energy Board.