Dear Minister of Energy,   …

Dear Minister of Energy,

Please appreciate my comments, even though they come from Calgary, Ab. I do believe they are important because we are all in this together.  The progress that your province makes is an important model for other provinces, in addition to the significance it contributes to taking responsibility to limit climate change.

I can understand that it is very difficult to bring change to existing utility arrangements and also existing utility relationships with the government of Ontario.

Given the economic challenges that Canada faces, much of it due to the uncertainty of traditional uses of energy and world turbulence that impacts the pricing of our resource exports, it is imperative that new projects be analysed with   inscrutable standards for economic values. Therefore, any work that is done and any investment made on existing nuclear power, should be first independently and publicly reviewed and compared to renewable energy alternatives.

I am personally very much in favour of replacing nuclear energy with renewable energy. The country of Germany has managed to avoid nuclear energy, and they have much less in terms of renewable energy and access to alternatives, than we have.  I have seen how its citizens cooperate in many small ways to ensure that the capacity demand for electricity does not creep into a level that would warrant new nuclear energy.

In terms of the future, it is imperative that waste and structure of the nuclear plants be handled in a manner that most preserves the environment for future Canadians.

The second major point I'd like to make is that leadership at the provincial level is needed to support community based initiatives.  By doing so, you would be enabling the flexibility of local levels to respond in simpler and more cost effective ways of providing renewable energy. When a person considers the success of Drake Landing in Okotoks (https://www.dlsc.ca/)  one can see how simple an energy system can be, and likewise, how threatening this can appear to the much more complex and embedded systems that are now in place.  However, it is wise to realize that the benefits of improved delivery of energy will be realized by very person in Ontario by way of long term and declining utility costs. It will also improve health outcomes, and decrease provincial healthcare spending.

The community level of delivery is one with out advocate. Individuals will advocate for rebates because they offer an immediately visible benefit.  Large suppliers will advocate for province-level investment because it is most familiar to them and centralizes power to their benefit. At the community level, however, there are few advocates to empower the simple and effective change that can enable them to be efficiently and effectively responsive to the demands for converting to renewable energy sources.

I have two last comments to make. 1) I recently found out that Calgary's LRT is powered 100% by wind energy. Investing further in the TTC through wind-powered rail is the type of infrastructure that offers employability and future benefit to all.  2) I would very much like to see funds set aside for those individual families who live at the poverty line and become precarious during utility provision transitions. There were examples of families on the news when Hydro One became public. It was devasting to witness.  It would cost very little for the province to set aside funds to assist in such situations.

Thank you for your work and dedication at this critical time. May you keep ordinary people and the environment foremost in your mind as you work with existing utility relationships and bring in new arrangements.

Sincerely,

Mary Anne Schleinich

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