Owner: Unimin Corporation

In 2010, our Nephton and Blue Mountain plants joined the Ontario Power Authority's Demand Response Program (DR3) in partnership with Direct Energy. When the generation system is operating at capacity, the utility will ask member companies to curtail their power demand during peak demand periods. When called upon, Unimin shuts down equipment, selectively operates equipment or takes other steps to reduce electricity consumption. The Nephton and Blue Mountain operations have historically been able to make reductions from 8 megawatts to 4.5 megawatts. This benefits energy suppliers because they use less electricity when it is most expensive, and the utility preserves the reliability of the electric grid without the expense of expanded utility infrastructure. In 2010, our Ontario operations were able to comply with all 12 curtailment requests.