ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, ONTARIO CLEAN AIR ALLIANCE, TORONTO EAST RESIDENTS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY (TERRE), CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICIANS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (CAPE), SENIORS FOR CLIMATE ACTION NOW! TORONTO
Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – A broad coalition of 26 environmental, health, legal, and community organizations across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is calling on Toronto City Council to reject the province’s new energy plan, warning that it undermines the city’s climate goals and locks residents into decades of fossil fuel dependence. The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) released its final Integrated Regional Resource Plan (IRRP) for Toronto on October 31, marking a major setback for the city’s pathway to net-zero emissions.
Despite clear direction from Toronto City Council—which has committed to phasing out the Portlands Energy Centre by 2035 and achieving net-zero by 2040 under the TransformTO plan—the IESO’s proposal takes the city in the opposite direction. Instead of investing in local, renewable solutions such as energy efficiency, rooftop and community solar and offshore wind, the plan entrenches reliance on centralized gas and nuclear power, keeping Toronto tied to outdated, high-cost energy sources that delay real climate action and local job creation.
The IESO’s plan ignores Toronto’s climate targets, leaving residents to face higher bills, more pollution and rising emissions. Burning gas worsens local air quality, driving asthma, heart and lung disease, and other serious health impacts, while fuelling the climate crisis. Gas and nuclear are also far from reliable. Over 70 per cent of Ontario’s gas supply comes from volatile U.S. fracked sources, and nuclear power depends on imported uranium and costly, unproven technologies like Small Modular Reactors. The result is a plan that sends energy dollars out of province and protects fossil and nuclear interests instead of investing in Torontonians’ health, economy and future.
Keith Brooks, Programs Director, Environmental Defence Canada:
“This new energy plan completely ignores Toronto’s wishes and will make it impossible for the city to achieve the goals in TransformTO. Toronto City Council must reject this plan. We need a clean energy plan for the city, and the Council needs to fight for it.”
Jack Gibbons, Chair, Ontario Clean Air Alliance:
“The good news is that we can phase out Toronto’s #1 smog and climate polluter by 2035, lower our electricity bills and increase our energy security by investing in energy efficiency, renewables & energy storage. Unfortunately, the IESO failed to develop a plan to do so.”
David Smith, Organizer, Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy (TERRE):
“Everything is going up—hydro rates, emissions, and pollution—while the IESO gives us a plan that’s dirty, expensive, and slow. Toronto deserves clean, affordable energy, not the solutions of yesterday.”
Dr. Samantha Green, Incoming President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE):
“This proposed energy plan for Toronto will keep us locked into fossil fuels for decades at enormous cost to our health and environment. Fracking, transporting and burning methane gas exposes communities to a range of toxic pollutants linked with serious health issues. Methane is furthermore a climate superheater. Toronto needs an energy plan that prioritizes community well-being by investing in renewables, not propping up the industry status quo.”
Shelly Gordon, Chair, Seniors for Climate Action Now! Toronto:
“Why would the IESO recommend an energy plan that sidelines renewables just as the world accelerates toward them? Toronto risks missing out on thousands of local clean-energy jobs and undermining its climate goals.”
Key Facts About The Energy Plan:
- No plan to retire the city’s gas plant (Portlands Energy Centre) by 2035, despite explicit Council direction.
- Nuclear expansion dominates the IESO’s plan, projected to supply 75 per cent of Ontario’s electricity by 2050—which will cost us two to eight times more than wind and solar.
- Rooftop solar potential is underestimated as Toronto could deliver 4.9 – 11.9 TWh per year, more than five times the output of the Portlands Energy Centre.
- The plan excludes proven innovations like offshore wind, vehicle-to-grid, balcony solar and urban solar installations that could rapidly cut emissions and peak demand.
- TransformTO’s 2030 targets require that 50% of community-wide energy come from renewable or low-carbon sources—a target impossible under the current IRRP framework.
Coalition Demand & Members
The coalition is urging Toronto City Council to formally reject the IESO’s final IRRP and instead direct Toronto Hydro to develop an alternative, community-driven clean-energy plan centred on local renewables, energy efficiency and grid modernization, while simultaneously developing a plan to phase out Portlands Energy Centre by 2035.
- Association for Canadian Educational Resources
- Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (Ontario)
- Canadian Environmental Law Association
- Centre for Social Innovation
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Toronto East Chapter)
- Climate Action for Lifelong Learners
- ClimateFast
- Environmental Defence Canada
- Etobicoke Climate Action
- For Our Grandchildren
- For Our Kids Toronto
- Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet
- Green 13
- Green Majority Radio
- Green Neighbours 21
- Ontario Clean Air Alliance
- Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign
- Parkdale-High Park 4 Climate Action
- Regenerating Toronto
- Seniors for Climate Action Now! (Toronto)
- Societal Dynamics (U of T)
- South Riverdale Community Health Centre
- Toronto 350
- Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy
- Toronto East End Climate Collective
- Toronto Environmental Alliance
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
