Made-in-Canada energy is what Ontario needs now

At a moment when reducing our dependence on American energy imports has never been more important, the Ford Government is making our dependence even worse. Over the last eight years, Ontario has significantly increased the use of American gas to generate electricity and the Ford Government plans to burn even more in the years to come.

Today, more than 70% of the fossil gas consumed in Ontario comes from the U.S.  At a time when the American government is attacking our economy and treating Canada as an enemy instead of a friend, we need to quickly reduce our reliance on polluting gas and protect ourselves from erratic and unpredictable American decision making.

Fortunately, we can take a number of actions to slash the use of gas in Ontario.  We can make the most of our renewable energy potential by getting back to building solar and wind infrastructure, including solar on parking lots and rooftops and offshore wind in the Great Lakes.

Storing this power has never been easier but we can vastly expand our ability to store power at low cost by working with our neighbours in Quebec.  Their massive hydro power reservoirs can be deployed like giant batteries – storing water when sun and wind power is abundant and releasing water when power is needed.

We can get our homes off imported gas by switching to vastly more efficient cold-climate heat pumps that can both heat and cool or homes.  This proven technology can make our homes more comfortable while also reducing local air pollution.  The provincial government should order our electric utilities to offer no money down, zero interest on bill financing for heat pumps to help us get off American gas and to lower the utility bills of Ontario’s families.

Tell Doug Ford we need to replace dirty American gas with clean Canadian renewable power

There has never been a better time to work with our fellow provinces to increase our energy security and independence. Improving our east-west transmission linkages will allow us to coordinate provincial systems to support each other and to benefit from developments like offshore wind developments in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, expanded wind power development in Quebec and solar and water power from Manitoba.  By working together, we can create a green energy powerhouse that protects our economy thanks to abundant, low-cost reliable renewable power.

Nova Scotia’s 400-megawatt Nova East floating wind power project is being developed by DP Energy and SBM Offshore | Image: DP Energy

The Ford government’s plan to buy four multi-billion dollar American-designed reactors is a recipe for higher power bills and more vulnerability to American trade actions.  These GE-Hitachi reactors will take a decade or more to build and produce power that costs twice what we would pay for power from new solar installations right now.

Worse yet, these reactors will require importing enriched uranium from the United States, imports that cut be could off at any time with a stroke of the President’s pen.

The Ontario government should immediately cancel its contract for these expensive and unnecessary American reactors and invest in Made-in-Canada solutions instead.

Tell Doug Ford to cancel the GE-Hitachi contract