Ontario Power Generation (a.k.a., Atura Power) is holding a virtual public meeting on Thursday, October 5th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET to get your feedback on its plans to increase the size of its Portlands gas plant on Toronto’s waterfront. Learn more below, and please plan to attend the public meeting.
Since Doug Ford became Premier, Portland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution has increased by 550%. In 2022, it produced as much GHG pollution as 133,000 cars. But now Ontario Power Generation (OPG) wants to increase Portland’s gas-fired generating capacity by an additional 50 megawatts (MW) to support Premier Ford’s plan to increase the GHG pollution of our gas plants by 700% by 2043.
As the Toronto Star reported this weekend, far from being a “peaker plant” that operates for only a few hours a week at most, Portlands has been running as much as 21 hours a dayall summer. This is not what we were told would happen when the plant was built despite strong community objections, but it is what happens when the provincial government refuses to invest in lower cost alternatives like solar, wind and energy efficiency.
Here are some questions you can ask during the meeting:
1. On May 10th Toronto City Council passed a resolution opposing the expansion of the Portlands gas plant. Why is OPG not respecting the wishes of Toronto City Council?
2. Why does our publicly owned utility think more fossil gas burning is a good idea in the middle of a climate crisis?
3. Why spend millions expanding a fossil fuel plant instead of spending that money on energy conservation programs that can help residents and businesses save money?
4. What plans does OPG have to invest in wind and solar energy instead of fossil fuels?
5. Does the company plan to continue burning fossil fuels after 2035?
6. Why is OPG asking Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment to exempt its proposal to increase Portland’s gas-fired generating capacity by 50 MW from the Environmental Assessment Act?
How to attend OPG’s public consultation on zoom:
Date: Thursday, October 5, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET
Zoom link: You must go aturapower.com/portlandsupgrade prior to meeting time to access the zoom link for the meeting.
Thanks for participating!