Toronto City Council couldn’t make it any clearer: This city is no place to be burning polluting fossil gas to produce electricity.
Yesterday Council passed a motion calling on the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and Toronto Hydro to work together to develop a plan to phase-out the polluting Portlands gas-fired generating station on the city’s waterfront and ramp up renewables and efficiency.
Having set a goal of creating a net-zero carbon city by 2040, Council understands that they have to get going now on switching to cleaner sources of power that will reduce pollution and lower electricity costs. With the IESO and Toronto Hydro embarking on developing a new 20-year power plan for the city, this is the time to focus on building a modern, efficient, zero-carbon electricity system.
A new Integrated Regional Resource Plan could open the way for ambitious deployment of rooftop solar, Great Lakes wind power, vehicle-to-grid charging systems, geo exchange heating and cooling, and many other innovative climate solutions linked together over a smart electricity grid. That’s the vision City Council is asking the IESO and Toronto Hydro to embrace, and that the people of Toronto want. It’s time to make it happen.
Thanks to Councillors Dianne Saxe and Paula Fletcher for keeping this issue on Council’s agenda and helping to point the way to a safer climate future for all city residents.
And thank you, Toronto residents, for making your voices heard!
p.s. On Mon. July 8, 7 p.m. ET, join OCAA’s Chair Jack Gibbons, along with other experts, for an online presentation and dialogue about the environmental risks and economic costs of TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage facility in Meaford, Ontario. Register here to receive the link.