News

Yesterday the City of Kitchener and the Town of Halton Hills became the first municipalities to request the Government of Ontario to start phasing-out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants.

Kitchener City Council unanimously called on the Government of Ontario to phase-out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by 2030 to ensure that the province can meet its 2030 climate target. Watch the video here (discussion starts 1 hr. 28 min.).

Halton Hills Town Council unanimously requested the province “to reverse its plan for increasing power production at its gas-fired power plants” and instead invest in energy efficiency, wind and solar energy and to “begin negotiations with the Province of Quebec to purchase clean hydro electricity” to replace power from the Pickering Nuclear Station, which is scheduled to close in 2024. Watch the video here (discussion starts at 5 min.).

In February 1999, the City of Kitchener was the first city in Ontario to call for the phasing-out of Ontario’s dirty coal plants; following its lead, 10 additional Ontario municipalities called for the phase-out of Ontario’s coal-fired power plants. And thanks to the strong leadership of Kitchener’s former MPP and Minister of the Environment Elizabeth Witmer, in 2002 the Government of Ontario committed the province to the phase-out of all of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) coal-fired power plants by 2015.

OPG, which now owns five large gas-fired power plants, including the Halton Hills Generating Station, is Ontario’s largest fossil-fuel electric utility. We can phase out fossil gas power plants and replace them with low-cost energy efficiency, made-in-Ontario wind and solar, and water power from Quebec.

What you can do

Please ask your municipal council to request the Government of Ontario to phase-out our gas-fired power plants by 2030. Municipal leadership makes a difference! Download our draft municipal phase-out resolution here. And let me know how we can help! We’d love to make a deputation before your City Council.

Individuals can also sign on here.

Please pass this message on to your friends.

Thank you!

Angela Bischoff, Campaigns Director

There will be no new Hamilton gas pipeline – at least for now. Yesterday, Enbridge Gas withdrew its application to build a giant new pipeline through sensitive natural areas in Hamilton to bring more US fracked gas to Ontario and to facilitate Doug Ford’s plan to ramp up the output of Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by more than 300%.

Enbridge said it was withdrawing the pipeline proposal due to a drop in demand for fossil gas. We have always maintained that there was indeed no need for this pipeline and that there were many better ways to meet our energy requirements, especially lower-cost efficiency efforts.

One of the most outrageous parts of the Enbridge proposal was the company’s intention to use the pipeline to deliver fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New England via Ontario and Quebec and thereby circumvent a fracked gas pipeline ban in New York State. Now, Ontario will not be used as a convenient detour around climate leadership.

Your emails, calls and letters had a big impact on pushing Enbridge to reconsider this pipeline and the likelihood of getting it built. Initial submissions at the Ontario Energy Board, where the environmental position was ably communicated by lawyer Kent Elson on behalf of Environmental Defence, also made it clear that Enbridge had a weak case when it came to the need and business case for this giant new pipe.

Enbridge has left the door open to bringing back its pipe-dream later, but we urge the company to reconsider and realize that deepening energy efficiency efforts and transitioning away from fossil fuels is the direction it should head.

Thank you for standing up for our climate!

Angela Bischoff, Campaigns Director

In early October, Prime Minister Trudeau directed the Canada Infrastructure Bank to invest $2.5 billion in projects to support renewable electricity generation and storage and to expand Canada’s east-west electricity grid.

An excellent way to invest some of these funds would be to build a new 20 km transmission line between Ontario and Quebec through Ottawa. This line, which could be built within an existing transmission corridor, would increase our import capacity by 2,000 megawatts for a cost of approximately $80 million.

The increased power import capacity provided by this line would allow Ontario to phase out its gas-fired power plants by 2030 instead of ramping up their greenhouse gas pollution by more than 300%.

An additional benefit would be creating a low-cost way to back up renewable power produced in Ontario. According to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, Two Way Trade in Green Electrons, Hydro Quebec’s reservoir system is the lowest-cost, carbon-free back-up option for wind and solar energy.

Phasing out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by 2030 will provide Ontario with all (or virtually all) of the greenhouse gas pollution reductions that it needs to achieve its 2030 climate target.

More than 45 organizations, including the David Suzuki Foundation and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, are calling for Ontario to phase-out its gas plants using an integrated combination of energy efficiency investments, Made-in-Ontario wind and solar energy and Quebec water power. You too can sign on here.

What you can do

Please contact Premier Ford and your local MPP here and tell them that you want Ontario to seek funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank for a new 20 km transmission line that will double our ability to buy low-cost water power from our next door neighbour.

Thanks for making the time.

Angela Bischoff, Campaigns Director

We have asked the Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Green Party by-election candidates in the ridings of Toronto Centre and York Centre to participate in our online all candidates debates on climate solutions. This is your opportunity to hear how the major parties plan to tackle the biggest issue of our time.

In Toronto Centre, the NDP and Green Party candidates have agreed to participate.

In York Centre the Liberal, NDP and Green Party candidates have agreed to participate.

The debates will be broadcast via Zoom and Facebook. Please register if you want to view the event directly in Zoom and have the opportunity to ask a question. And please share this information with your networks – we all need to hear what the candidates have to say on this issue.

Toronto Centre All-Candidates Debate on Climate Change

Wed. Oct. 14, 2 – 3 p.m. EST

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/toronto-centre-all-candidates-debate-on-climate-change-tickets-124593333013

Livestreamed here: https://www.facebook.com/CleanAirAlliance

Facebook event to share: https://www.facebook.com/events/3726469264039908

Recording of event will be posted for later viewing here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh934oFZunJlDrdVn7IU8BA

York Centre All-Candidates Debate on Climate Change

Fri. Oct. 16, 2 – 3 p.m. EST

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/york-centre-all-candidates-debate-on-climate-change-tickets-124730934583

Livestreamed here: https://www.facebook.com/CleanAirAlliance

Facebook event to share: https://www.facebook.com/events/837770900364258

Recording of event will be posted for later viewing here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh934oFZunJlDrdVn7IU8BA

Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time and we need to hear how these candidates would support the transition to a low-carbon economy. You can ask the Liberal candidate in Toronto Centre and the Conservative candidates in both ridings why they are not ready to make their views known on this vital issue:

• votemarci@liberal.ca
• info@votejulius.ca
• info@benjaminsharma.ca

Thank you.

Angela Bischoff, Campaigns Director

Want to know why people in Ontario are paying so much more for power than their neighbours in Quebec and Manitoba? Take a look at these graphics.

Residents of Ontario are paying as much as 90% more for power than people in Quebec and as much as 50% more than their neighbours in Manitoba because Ontario depends so heavily on high-cost nuclear power. 

And it is about to get worse. Despite the fact that Premier Ford promised to lower our electricity rates by 12%, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is proposing to raise its price of electricity by 74% over the next five years to pay for the re-building of the Darlington Nuclear Station.

In fact, as this graphic shows, nuclear costs have been steadily climbing over the last two decades, helping to drive up electricity bills for the people of Ontario while their neighbours continue to benefit from low-cost water power. Ontarians also spent much of the past two decades helping to pay off the massive debt accumulated through nuclear projects that went hugely over budget.

Fortunately, we have much lower cost options to keep our lights on. Energy efficiency, wind and solar power and Quebec water power can all meet our electricity needs at less than half the cost of re-building OPG’s and Bruce Power’s aging nuclear reactors. 

Send a message to Premier Ford, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner and tell them that we need to defund the nuclear industry to prevent our electricity rates from sky rocketing. Click here now. 

Thanks for making the time.

Angela Bischoff, Director 

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has challenged the Liberal and NDP leaders to follow his lead and sign on to our plan to phase out polluting gas-fired power by 2030.

As the Green Party leader points out in his letter to the other opposition leaders, the government’s current weak climate action plan will be even further undermined by a huge increase in the use of gas-fired electricity generating stations.

While the Ford government has torn up hundreds of contracts for zero emission renewable energy and cancelled energy conservation programs, it has done nothing to address a huge planned increase in the use of fossil fuel energy – an increase of more than 300% by 2025. In fact, the provincially owned Ontario Power Generation just spent close to $3 billion buying gas-fired generating stations instead of investing in renewables.

Mr. Schreiner is right that Ontario’s current approach essentially means abandoning all hope of even meeting Ontario’s weak current climate pollution reduction targets. In fact, it would mean losing more than one-third of the greenhouse gas emission reduction gains Ontario realized by phasing out its dirty coal-fired power plants.

There is a desperate need for strong climate leadership in Ontario and we join Mr. Schreiner in calling on NDP Leader Andrea Horwarth and Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca to endorse the phase-out of our gas-fired power plants. Please email the other two opposition leaders right now and ask them to support our call for a phase-out of Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by 2030. Click here.

And please thank Mike Schreiner, Green Party Leader, for his leadership on this issue. ph. 416-325-4664,Mschreiner@ola.org

Thanks for making the time!

Angela Bischoff, Director

P.S. Join OCAA and Hamilton350 in a webinar on Tues. July 28, 7 – 8:30 p.m. EST to learn about Ontario’s planned 300% fracked gas ramp up.

Looking for some new routes to walk during your daily fresh air outing? We have an opportunity for you that will make a difference.

We need to distribute thousands of pamphlets calling attention to the Ontario government’s plan to expand the use of gas-fired electricity by more than 300% by 2025. Considering the urgency of the climate crisis, the opportunity to reduce demand through conservation, the drastic drop in wind and solar costs over the last five years, and the availability of low-cost water power and storage from Quebec, Ontario’s abrupt pivot toward expanding the use of fracked gas is startling.

We’re looking for volunteers to go door-to-door leaving pamphlets in household mailboxes around Ontario. Can you help? (High school students can gain volunteer hours.)

These deliveries can be safely carried out while maintaining social distancing (no contact with residents), and we will provide gloves and masks.

Social media is important, but we also need to get the word out to people’s doorsteps about Doug Ford’s plan to drag Ontario backwards. Your help can ensure we do not throw away one-third of the climate pollution reductions Ontario achieved by phasing out coal-fired power. Now is the time to move toward a 100% renewable future, rather than dial up greenhouse gas pollution.

You can order free leaflets here for distribution anywhere in Ontario.

We will also be doing group blitzes in Toronto, Pickering and Hamilton over the summer months. If you can join us, please contact me (angela@cleanairalliance.org).

Thanks for helping us put boots to pavement and get the word out about how we can meet our 2030 climate target and lower our electricity bills by phasing-out our gas-fired power plants.

Angela Bischoff, Director

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on March 25^th Bruce Power suspended work on the re-building of its Unit 6 nuclear reactor. One day later, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced that it will not proceed with the re-building of its Unit 3 nuclear reactor at this time.

Bruce Power’s and OPG’s actions provide Premier Ford with the opportunity to reconsider whether it makes sense to continue with the previous Government’s high-cost plan to re-build 10 aging nuclear reactors and to continue to subsidize our electricity rates to the tune of $5.6 billion per year.

By investing in energy efficiency instead we can keep our lights on at less than one-quarter of the price of nuclear power and create good jobs in every community in Ontario.

In New York State, giant utility Consolidated Edison announced on May 18th that it is tripling its energy efficiency budget.  Ontario should too. According to Consolidated Edison’s Chairman and CEO, John McAvoy: “I believe one of the keys to rebuilding our communities and boosting the economy is maintaining our focus on clean energy. We’re building tomorrow’s grid so that it stands up to climate change and so it can integrate renewable energy sources like solar and wind.”

Please email Premier Ford here and tell him you support getting Ontario back to work by launching an energy retrofit program for our homes and businesses that will also lower our electricity bills.

Thank you for making the time.

-Angela Bischoff, Director

p.s. If the automatic email doesn’t work for you, please send your email to Doug Ford at premier@ontario.ca and cc: ahorwath-qp@ndp.on.ca , steven@ontarioliberal.ca , mschreiner@ola.org and angela@cleanairalliance.org

The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner has ruled that Bruce Power and the Ontario Government must come clean on the cost of power from rebuilt reactors noting that “the public has a right to know what the electricity cost will be from the multi-billion Bruce NGS [Nuclear Generating Station] project as they are paying for it and will be locked into paying for it for almost 50 years.”

In her response to an appeal by Bruce Power of an earlier decision, Adjudicator Diane Smith acknowledged that the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has the power to suppress this information, but ruled that the public right to know trumped this authority.

In ruling that the pricing information should be released, the Adjudicator reasoned that “the annual price of the Bruce NGS electricity options… would allow the public to assess and potentially advocate for alternative energy sources, such as conservation, demand response, hydro power imports from Quebec, renewable generation, and energy storage. Environmental advocates need the annual price of the nuclear option as soon as possible to advocate for alternatives that may take up to 10 years to implement.”

Further, the Adjudicator found the IESO and Bruce Power rationale for suppressing information about the price of power from rebuilt Bruce reactors to be without substance. She noted that contrary to the IESO’s assertions, “I find that the amount of information already disclosed is not adequate to address the public interest considerations.” She also found Bruce Power’s assertion that disclosing the information would somehow raise electricity prices rather baffling, noting “neither the IESO nor Bruce Power provided particulars that support their concerns about this.”

It’s important to note that pricing information for all renewable energy projects in Ontario is fully public and there is no need for citizens or environmental organizations to undertake long and costly Freedom of Information appeals to see this information. Similarly, Ontario Power Generation must publicly disclose all its costing information through the Ontario Energy Board. Only Bruce Power has had the special privilege of keeping all its pricing information firmly under wraps – until now.

Thanks to the Privacy Commissioner we are optimistic we will soon see just what kind of deal Bruce Power is really offering the people of Ontario. The nuclear industry loves to talk about how it supplies “low cost power” though the numbers tell a very different tale.

This matter should never have required a multi-year effort by an environmental NGO. If the Ontario government was serious about reducing hydro costs, it would have long since ordered this information be made public to allow a real comparison of the cost of different energy options. We cannot have an informed debate about the best options for Ontario when one powerful entity and our electricity system manager cling to secrecy.

-Angela Bischoff, Director

Ontario Power Generation — 100% owned by the Government of Ontario — has just spent $2.8 billion to buy three gas-fired power plants. 

The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) projects that under the Ford government’s electricity plan, emissions from gas-fired power plants will rise by more than 300%. This is essentially throwing away one-third of the climate pollution reductions Ontario achieved by phasing out coal-fired power.

There are far better ways to keep our lights on, starting with maximizing our energy efficiency efforts, making a deal with Quebec for low-cost water power and developing cost-effective renewable energy projects right here in Ontario.

These actions would allow Ontario to phase out polluting gas-fired power and create a strong foundation for a green economic recovery from our current covid-19 crisis. Instead of spending $2.8 billion to increase greenhouse gas pollution, Ontario should be embracing the opportunity to develop a 100% renewable electricity system.

We recently looked at this better approach in a Zoom webinar you can watch, or view the powerpoint slides here. We have also spelled out how Ontario can phase out its gas plants in a new report.

If you think we have better ways to spend $2.8 billion than buying polluting gas plants, send a letter to Doug Ford and the leaders of the opposition parties here: OntarioClimateAction.ca.

Thank you for making the time.

-Angela Bischoff, Director

Ontario’s greenhouse gas pollution will rise sharply in the future – due in part to a return to business as usual post-COVID-19, but also because the Ford government plans to ramp up the use of polluting gas plants by more than 400% to replace the Pickering Nuclear Station and to meet future demand.

If we stick with Doug Ford’s plan, Ontario will not reach its 2030 climate target and electricity costs for Ontario consumers will continue to rise as costly nuclear rebuild projects proceed.

Fortunately, our new report, Phasing-Out Ontario’s Gas-Fired Power Plants, outlines a better solution – an integrated combination of clean waterpower imports from Quebec, with strong energy efficiency efforts in Ontario and the development of cost-effective wind power in both provinces. This combination can supply more than enough energy to keep our lights on while also allowing us to phase out the use of gas-fired electricity.

Quebec has the low-cost renewable power Ontario needs and is keen to sell it to us. Building a new 20 km transmission line (along an existing transmission corridor) in Ottawa will cost but a fraction of what Ontario is planning to spend on nuclear rebuilds, saving us billions of dollars. Plus, Quebec can use its extensive waterpower reservoir system to act like a giant battery to turn intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar into firm 24/7 power.

We don’t need to build a giant new fracked gas pipeline through sensitive natural areas in Hamilton to meet our electricity needs – the better answer is to work with Quebec and to restore energy efficiency programs right here in Ontario.

• Webinar: We’ll explain more in our Zoom webinar on Thursday April 23, 2 p.m. EST – email me (angela@cleanairalliance.org) for the link.

• Report: Read our report for all the details on how we can Phase-Out Ontario’s Gas-Fired Power Plants.

• Petition: And sign our petition calling for the phase-out of Ontario’s gas-fired power plants.

Thank you and stay healthy! Please pass this onto your friends.

Angela Bischoff, Director