If you thought life was going to get more affordable, we have some very bad news. To kick off the New Year, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has applied to the Ontario Energy Board for a whopping 72.6% increase in the price it is paid for nuclear power.
OPG says it needs to almost double what it charges for power from its nuclear plants starting in 2027 to pay for building new reactors at the Darlington Station and to rebuild the long-past-its-prime Pickering Nuclear Station.
This application really confirms that these projects are among the most expensive ways to meet our need for electricity. We could expand solar, wind and storage at a fraction of the cost and avoid seeing our power bills go through the roof.
But the Ford government is pushing forward with a laundry list of insanely expensive nuclear projects instead – with no real idea what these projects will cost. And that is going to cost you, with:
- sharply rising electricity bills;
- years of burning polluting fossil fuels to fill the gap while these projects get built;
- needlessly expensive electricity supply that deters businesses from locating or expanding in Ontario.
This 72.6% increase will be on top of the November 2025 residential electricity rate increase of 29% due to rising nuclear costs. A good chunk of last year’s rate increase was deliberately buried in tax bills by the Ford government, but you’re still paying for it.
Remember when Doug Ford promised he was going to cut hydro rates by 12%? Notice he never talks about that anymore.
The Premier’s buddies in the nuclear and gas industries may like his plan for an old school electricity system built around eye wateringly expensive mega projects. But the people of Ontario are now in for some serious sticker shock.
This is really the tip of a very big iceberg coming straight at your household budget.
Please ask our provincial leaders whether they will support a much lower cost plan for offshore wind, rooftop and parking lot solar, widely distributed storage and deep efficiency instead of expensive nuclear.