September 22, 2026
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Bruce Power's Unit 3 helped meet Ontario's peak summer electricity demand after returning to service more than seven months ahead of schedule, following its Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage, demonstrating strong post-refurbishment reliability while delivering significant value for ratepayers.
As summer comes to a close, the company reflects on the performance that made Unit 3’s output available just in time to meet the province’s needs during peak demand for air-conditioners in homes, hospitals and businesses, highlighting Bruce Power’s proven track record of delivering nuclear refurbishments on-time, on-budget and with quality by a skilled workforce, industry partners and a robust Made-in-Canada supply chain.
Bruce Power’s Unit 3 was successfully synchronized to the Ontario electricity grid June 4, following its three-year refurbishment outage, more than seven months ahead of schedule and well ahead of budget.
Since returning Unit 3 to service, Bruce Power generation was 740,000 megawatt hours ahead of plan, enough to power as many as 300,000 homes during the summer months. With its life extended by more than three decades, Unit 3, itself, will provide enough clean, reliable electricity to power a city the size of Brampton for years to come while supporting growing demand for electricity across the province.
“There are a few things you can count on during an Ontario summer: heat, humidity, the refreshment of a dip in our Great Lakes, and the reliability of baseload nuclear generation,” said Pat Dalzell, Bruce Power’s vice-president, of corporate affairs and market development. “When our skilled workers brought Unit 3 back to service early, ahead of budget and with high quality, they helped to make sure Ontario’s electricity grid was able to meet peak demand over the summer season.”
As a result of the strong performance in its Unit 3 MCR, Bruce Power was able to return approximately $150-million to Ontario ratepayers through the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), demonstrating the strength of the province’s nuclear refurbishment model and Bruce Power’s commitment to delivering value for families and businesses. Provisions built into the company's refurbishment agreement with the IESO ensure that the people of Ontario benefit from savings realized during the Life-Extension Program and operation of the Bruce Nuclear generating station.
Bruce Power’s first refurbishment outage in Unit 6 was completed ahead of schedule and cost, in 2023, with $52-million delivered back to Ontario ratepayers. Since then, the renewed Unit 6 has shown excellent performance in powering the province.
The Unit 4 MCR outage is tracking ahead of Unit 3 and represents the midway point for Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program to renew Units 3-8 by 2033 in support of Ontario’s energy security, economic growth, and climate goals.
Several innovations in the Unit 3 MCR, including the first time robotic tools were used on a reactor face to rebuild a Candu reactor and a Candu refurbishment record for calandria tube removal, have paved the way for performance improvements in Unit 4 and successive MCR outages.
Bruce Power directly and indirectly supports approximately 22,000 jobs, annually, and contributes billions of dollars each year to Ontario’s economy. Ninety-five per cent of Bruce Power’s total spending is in Canada.
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