Ottawa Citizen
December 16, 2013
Tim Gray
Green power makes a great scapegoat for rising electricity bills in Ontario. The only problem is that this is a myth based on a jumble of dubious assumptions rather than facts.Electricity rates are projected to rise overall at two per cent per year over the next 20 years. Hardly an economic catastrophe. Subsidies for nuclear power pushed up our electricity generation costs by 43 per cent last year and now Ontario Power Generation is asking the Ontario Energy Board for a further 30-per-cent increase in the rate it is paid for power from its nuclear plants to start paying for rebuilding the Darlington Nuclear Station. Meanwhile, an independent study produced for Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator showed that support for wind and solar pushed up Ontario’s electricity generation costs by only 10.5 per cent last year. Today, wind and solar produce just four per cent of Ontario’s electricity, so blaming them for rising rates is like blaming the cookie you ate for all your weight gain.