Over at the GM-Volt blog there’s a report that General Motors, according to the headline, “Admits to a Working Relationship with EEStor.”

Well, not exactly if you go on to read the post. Unless, of course, having EEStor send information in the mail counts as “working relationship.” That said, the admission by Denise Gray, GM’s director of advanced batteries, that the auto giant has been in touch with EEStor is interesting enough.

Asked whether she’s seen an EESU prototype, Gray backed off a bit. “I probably shouldn’t say if I’ve received parts or not, that’s kind of confidential. But we are in touch with them and we are continuing to encourage them to develop the technology. Because we need as much help as we can possibly get to get the costs down of our battery solution and get the reliability up.”

Man, I can only imagine the kind of non-disclosure agreements these people have to sign. Obviously, EEStor is in discussions with a number of potential partners and customers, yet information about the company still dangles in the territory of rumour and speculation.

My personal prediction: a major announcement from EEStor in March.

My Clean Break feature today looks at the potential of combined heat and power (CHP) projects in Ontario, and explores why we’re not seeing more of it in the province — particularly those projects that can recycle industrial heat and flu gases. Several ambitious projects have been shelved because the developers behind them simply couldn’t make the economics work. The economic downturn — i.e. the credit squeeze — is playing a role, but many industry observers are also pointing fingers at the government (and the power authority) for setting the bar too high and making the rules too complex.

Their argument: government needs to do a better job of encouraging and supporting CHP projects.

Their reason: The projects not only make struggling industries more competitive, they will create jobs when we need them most and will produce cleaner electricity for the province’s grid.

Sounds reasonable. With all the talk about the need for economic stimulus, these are projects that should be pursued — not just because of their short-term job creation benefits, but because they will make Ontario’s manufacturing leaders more competitive in the long run and help clean up the province’s electricity mix.

We continue to dump money into clean coal and carbon capture/sequestration, but where are the loan guarantees for low-hanging fruit like CHP — projects that will actually make a real difference today?

This is one area where Ontario can — and should — step up.