Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith says he thinks Ontario does not need any new gas-fired power plants. We couldn’t agree more and congratulate the minister on his recognition that more gas plants are going to put Ontario even further behind in addressing the climate crisis.

But what the Minister hasn’t addressed is Ontario’s plan to increase the use of existing gas-fired power plants by 375% by 2030 and by more than 600% by 2040. This will have a huge climate impact at a time when we are well behind in achieving even modest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Please tell Minister Smith that while you are pleased to see that he no longer supports building new gas plants, massively expanding the use of existing plants is not a good alternative. Tell him that an integrated combination of renewables, storage and conservation is the only responsible way to meet our climate commitments.

Send the Minister a message encouraging him to direct the Independent Electricity System Operator to develop a real plan to phase-out all gas-fired electricity generation by 2030.