I have a big problem with…

I have a big problem with price gouging private companies increasing their bottom line at any cost. Our utilities should stay in public hands where citizens have a say in how they are run. Utilities are far too important in a Northern climate, which all of Ontario is, to be left to the whims and greed of the market. Keep hydro public. I want Ontario’s next Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) to acknowledge that going 100% renewable is a viable option for Ontario’s energy future. 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. I think the government should pursue all cost-effective conservation.

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

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 needs to change. Ontario’s next energy plan needs to 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.

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 renege on 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. Shutting Pickering down should be a first step in Ontario’s long-term transition to renewable energy.

[Original Comment ID: 206430]