Your goals for this enquiry…

Comment

Your goals for this enquiry include "protect the interest of ratepayers". One of our interests is to ensure a liveable climate for our children and grandchildren. We want them to enjoy the beauty and bounty of this world in Ontario the way we have.

Your suggested "goals" include
- the use of cleaner energy sources and innovative and emerging technologies;
- air emissions from the energy sector, taking into account any projections respecting the emission of greenhouse gases developed with the assistance of the IESO;

These must be enshrined in your new policy, and not just be "suggestions". We have to eliminate all fossil fuels in an orderly fashion over the next 30 years, starting immediately. In particular, from now on we must stop developing new fossil-fuel infrastructure, which includes running gas mains to new residential developments. That also means implementing a high-efficiency, performance-based building code (similar to Passive House) so that new homes can be heated electrically with renewable energy without overburdening our electrical grid.

Even so, the electrical grid must be expanded to include more renewable energy, to support electric vehicles and electric heating in existing buildings. We also need more power lines from Quebec so we can use their hydroelectric power as a backup source when the wind is not blowing and the sun not shining. This means NOT using natural gas as the backup source.