To whom it may concern,   …

To whom it may concern,

I want Ontario’s next Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) to commit to going 100% renewable.  This is a viable and essential direction for Ontario’s energy future.  Our family has been using Bullfrog Power for the last several years

More and more communities, countries and companies are opting to go 100% renewable.   Ontario’s next energy plan should put policies in place to enable citizens, communities and First Nations to go 100% renewable.

To fight climate change and reduce our environmental footprint, I think Ontario’s next energy plan should make conservation and efficiency the first priority for all energy decisions.  On a personal level I endeavour to cycle both to work and for local errands, rather than drive.

A recent government study showed we have the potential to cost-effectively reduce electricity demand by 30% by 2035.

The government should pursue all cost-effective conservation.

Ontario’s next energy plan should empower everyone from citizens and co-ops to municipalities and First Nations to become energy producers.

The biggest barrier to shifting Ontario to 100% renewable energy is the government’s current commitment to nuclear power.

While the cost of renewables keeps declining, the cost of nuclear power has only ever gone up. Despite this, the government’s past energy plans have made no requirement for nuclear projects to undergo public review against alternatives. This must change.

Ontario’s next energy plan must ensure there are a full and fair comparisons of the total costs of nuclear with alternatives and an opportunity for the public to have a say about which approach they prefer.  This assessment should include a risk assessment of nuclear wast products and accidents.

Ontario’s 2013 energy plan committed to close the Pickering nuclear station between 2017 and 2020, but earlier this year the government announced they would not honour this promise and keep operating Pickering until 2024.

Almost all of Pickering’s output is surplus and exported to Michigan at a loss.  This is driving up energy costs.

Pickering’s continued operation also puts the public at risk. Ontario has not updated its nuclear emergency plans since the Fukushima disaster.

I want the government to keep its promise to close Pickering before 2020.

[Original Comment ID: 206999]