Statement by Aliénor Rougeot, Senior Program Manager, Climate and Energy on Ontario’s Integrated Energy Plan

Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Ontario’s new energy plan risks making life worse for Ontarians, leading to higher bills, an increased reliance on U.S. imported gas, greater air pollution and more severe climate damages. While it is positive to see the government take an integrated and long-term approach to energy planning, this ideological plan from the Minister must be replaced by a plan written by experts and based on modelling shared with the public.

The biggest issue with this plan is it largely ignores the cheapest, most abundant and cleanest energy sources: wind and solar. For the past seven years, this government has put up roadblocks to prevent the development of renewable energy. Now, this plan doubles down on this misguided direction by adding arbitrary constraints to the build out of renewables and storage, such as maintaining the offshore wind moratorium, placing broad restrictions on ground-mounted solar, and designing a procurement process that stacks the deck against wind, solar and batteries. The supply forecast actually envisions that Ontario will have less wind and solar in 2050 than in 2030. The government’s refusal to give renewable energy a central role in our energy future is unjustified and will cost us tremendously, economically and environmentally.

The government also provides no justification for its claims that this plan is focused on affordability. There are no price comparisons, no cost analyses and no sources to back up the government’s claims. Meanwhile, it still has not released the 2022 report it commissioned that studied the cost-effective ways for Ontario to decarbonize. This report—since leaked to the media—actually recommended wind energy increase five-fold while gas be largely phased out.

Instead of following this expert advice, Premier Ford is forcing us to stay more reliant on American gas for our electricity grid and as a source of home heating. On top of undermining our energy security, this will saddle households with higher heating bills.

The promotion of nuclear energy as an affordable energy source and key to energy security is wrong. The price tag of a unit of electricity produced by new nuclear power is much higher than wind, solar and storage technology. And the proposed Small Modular Reactors rely on American-made reactors and imported enriched uranium from the U.S.

Finally, the plan’s promise to deliver a net-zero electricity grid by 2050 ignores how climate change actually works. What matters is not just reaching zero emissions by a future date, but how much we emit between now and then. The government’s approach would allow emissions to rise massively in the next decades, betting on uncertain nuclear projects to clean up the grid just in time. This will lock in more climate damages, like the wildfires raging across Canada today.

Background:

  • In 2022, the Ontario government commissioned “Cost-Effective Energy Pathways Study For Ontario”. Its results were never made public, but copies leaked to the media and separately obtained by Environmental Defence show one the report’s key finding was that “natural gas is mostly phased out in all (cost-effective) pathways.” The report also recommends that Ontario increase wind energy five-fold.
  • Modelling shows it is more affordable to meet Ontario’s rising electricity demand through a mix of energy efficiency, solar, wind and storage than it is to ramp up natural gas. Clean Energy Canada also found that electricity from wind and solar is already cost-competitive with fossil gas generation in Ontario, and costs are expected to decline further in the coming years.
  • Over seventy percent of the gas consumed in Ontario is produced in the U.S.
  • Although the government is framing its Long-Term 2 procurement process as “technology agnostic,” it is not the case. The procurement rules unfairly stack the deck in favour of natural gas fired generation and against renewable energy by:
    • Overly restricting ground-mounted solar in prime agricultural areas.
    • Proposing a ban on Chinese components from all future energy purchases in Ontario.
    • Giving full points to natural gas developers while not offering the same opportunity to battery storage proponents and requiring batteries to deliver 12 continuous hours of power—a number that is not correlated to Ontario’s actual needs in peak demand periods.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Tamara Latinovic, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca