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(詳細はIn the 1890s, three competing firms in Ontario engaged in a competition to develop the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. After several years of delays, construction began on the two sites in 1902 and on a third in 1904. At the same time, a group of municipalities in southern Ontario set up utilities joined their efforts to obtain a stable supply of hydropower. Despite his initial reluctance, Ontario Premier George William Ross organizes the Ontario Power Commission in 1903 to coordinate efforts. After the private companies refusal to negotiate power deals, the government responds by setting up an enquiry headed by Adam Beck, who recommends the establishment of a publicly owned distribution system. The province established the Hydro Electric Commission of Ontario in 1906 and voters approve municipalization of power distribution a year later. The Commission began delivering power to cities and towns in October 1910. By World War I, 59,000 customers were connected to the grid in Ontario. In Manitoba and British Columbia, private companies were also quick to develop hydropower. The Nelson Electric Light Company was the first company to build a hydro site in British Columbia. February 1, 1896 it commenced operation producing power for the City of Nelson. The Sandon plant was second in March 1897.〔http://www.nelson.ca/EN/main/services/electrical-services/history.html〕 In Winnipeg, railroad tycoon William Mackenzie built the first plant built on the Winnipeg River to supply the Ogilvie mill. Mackenzie soon faced competition from the city of Winnipeg, after voters backed the construction of a $ 3.25 million publicly funded dam on the Winnipeg River in 1906. ==State control and rural electrification== Development of the electric sector accelerated after the First World War with the creation of provincial utilities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, in the 1920s. Publicly owned electric companies put a strong focus on rural electrification and hydroelectric development. The Quebec government was a latecomer as far as its involvement in the electricity sector is concerned. After an anarchic period, the industry consolidated into a duopoly of investor-owned utilities. In Quebec's largest city, Montreal Light, Heat & Power (MLH&P) became the dominant player through mergers with competitors.〔; see also 〕 In the rest of the province, Shawinigan Water & Power Company (SW&P) attracted large industrial customers, aluminium smelters, carbide plants and pulp and paper mills, with an hydroelectric complex built on the Saint-Maurice River. In 1930, SW&P had grown to become the leading power company in Quebec, and one of the largest hydroelectric companies in the world. Calls for nationalization of the industry began during the Great Depression, after a political scandal surrounded the construction of the Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Station, on the Saint Lawrence River, west of Montreal.〔; 〕 Critics attacked the "electricity trust" for their abusive rates and excessive profits. The campaign, masterminded by Philippe Hamel and T.-D. Bouchard, led to the nationalization of MLH&P and the creation of Hydro-Québec by the liberal government of Adélard Godbout in 1944. The other electric companies were taken over by Hydro-Québec in 1963, following an snap election on the issue of electricity spearheaded by René Lévesque, the provincial minister in charge of Natural Resources in the Jean Lesage government. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of electricity sector in Canada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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