Electricity Imports - I am…

Electricity Imports - I am surprised how little cheap Quebec power is included in the plan. For years Quebec has sold this to the USA. Why wouldn't Ontario access it? The study references Quebec's need to invest to expand capacity. They have done little to promote conservation for their domestic electricity users and this would be the cheapest way to expand capacity. Even with construction for new supply and transmission to Ontario, the cost would be lower than many of the other options the IESO has included in their plan. Why is there no import from Manitoba with their large supplies of clean hydro power? New transmission would be required but would the cost be overwhelming, especially compared to the other high cost options in the plan?

Hydrogen - the plan gives an inordinately large place to hydrogen without saying much about its cost, usefulness, or source. Will it be blue hydrogen coming from Alberta or elsewhere? Hydrogen may be needed for certain special applications like long haul trucking or steel manufacturing but it would seem to be far too expensive and speculative for base electricity supply.

Capture capture - it is good that the plan does not include a role for carbon capture and storage. This is a very expensive and unreliable technology which uses a lot of energy on its own. It just seems to be a way to prop up continued fossil fuel production and use without really addressing the imperative to decarbonize. Rather than trying to grab a low concentration of CO2 out of the air, don't put it in the air in the first place. My mother always said, "It's far easier to NOT make a mess in the first place, than to try and clean it up afterwards."

Wind - the plan caps onshore wind at 15,800 MW saying that expansion beyond that is limited by sites, regulatory requirements, and transmission infrastructure. Really? This is a huge province and I don't see the skyline overwhelmed by windmills yet. We are in a climate emergency and need to act like it. And what about offshore wind - it's stronger and steadier and right next to our big population centres around the Great Lakes and coasts. I understand that a study for the Ontario Clean Air Alliance found that offshore wind alone could supply 80% of Ontario's electricity at a very affordable price.

Demand response - the plan shows an increase from 200 to 3700 MW. That's the right direction but is it sufficient? In my years of studying Ontario Hydro I have always been struck by their lowballing of the possibility of conservation in the system. I vividly remember their plan the 1990s promoting a LOT more nuclear power which included a provision for conservation that amounted to 2 compact fluorescent lightbulbs per household! So I remain suspicious of the ability of Ontario's electricity planners to really imagine what a conservation plan could look like.

Solar - the plan calls for a doubling of solar from 2700 to 6100 MW. Is that really all we could do? The cost of solar continues to plummet, even faster than most people anticipated. I understand that New Jersey has a higher installed solar capacity than many US states despite its small population and northern latitude. Could we not at least match their ambition?

Nuclear - I still don't understand Ontario's love affair with nuclear power. It is costly to use and slow to construct. This doesn't even address the waste disposal and decommissioning costs, nor the accident risk which is not insured by anyone but the taxpayer. The building of each of our 3 plants was always late and way over budget. Constructing the last plant bankrupted Ontario Hydro. There is no basis to assume that the next nuclear construction project will be any different. It's a novel design (again) that doesn't exist anywhere yet. Even if it did come in on time in 2031, that's too late to help us much. And the projected cost, if it's met, is still too high. We have other, cheaper technologies that can be in place in a year, not a decade.

Clean Electricity Regulations - the federal govt's plan is to eliminate fossil fuels from electricity generation in Canada by 2035. Yet, the IESO plan still has 8000 MW coming from from methane-fired plants. They say they will talk about this with the feds. Are they assuming it will be a different govt that abandons clean electricity?

No mention - of district heating despite the fact that Swedish homes are now 97% fossil-free from a combination of regulations and incentives to install heat pumps and district heating. They too have a cold northern climate. No mention of co-generation, another cheap, accessible, proven technology to reduce emissions in industry.

Overall, a disappointing plan, with a lack of confidence in cheap, proven generating technologies, conservation, and imports, and a heavy reliance on Hail Mary passes from expensive, unproven technologies like hydrogen and "small" nuclear.