Yesterday was a good day for clean air and climate action in Toronto. City Council voted overwhelmingly (23-1) to support Councillor Dianne Saxe’s motion calling for City Staff, in consultation with Toronto Hydro, to develop a plan to avoid unnecessary gas burning at the Portlands gas plant by significantly increasing local distributed energy generation (renewables!), energy storage, and demand response measures that shift demand from peak to off-peak periods.
Councillor Saxe’s motion requires City Staff to report back to Council in the first quarter of 2026 with their plan.
This motion is a breath of fresh air given that the existing plan developed by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator fails to address shutting down Portlands and instead relies heavily on expanding the use of American gas and expensive, slow to deploy new U.S. nuclear reactors to keep our lights on.
It’s in the direct interest of the City and Toronto Hydro to take the reins and develop a plan that meets our electricity needs by investing in local solutions, such as roof top and parking lot solar, Lake Ontario wind power, actions that save energy and reduce peak demand, and developing new approaches to energy storage, including using EV batteries.
For more on how the city can eliminate gas burning and cut costs, see our Toronto’s Electricity Future report.
Ontario’s Leader of the Opposition, Marit Stiles also weighed in and asked Premier Ford to direct Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator to develop a plan to phase-out the Portlands gas plant by 2035.
As the NDP leader stated in her letter, “At a time when Ontario is planning major investments in new generation sources and transmission infrastructure with the stated goal of ‘ensuring Ontario’s energy system remains affordable, reliable, secure, and clean – not just today, but for decades to come,’ it makes no sense to plan for decades of more carbon pollution from a gas plant located within walking distance of some of Ontario’s most densely-populated neighbourhoods.”
A big thank you to Dianne Saxe and Marit Stiles for your strong leadership on phasing out Toronto’s #1 smog and climate polluter.