Thank you for considering my…

Thank you for considering my comments on Bill 165 and for adding them to the Registry. The role of the Ontario Energy Board is to make decisions that are in the best interest of Ontarians, and the OEB’s December 2023 decision to stop subsidies for new natural gas hookups did just that. The Minister criticized the OEB decision as ‘rushed’ and ‘irrational’. In fact, it was the result of a thorough public hearing process which involved more than a year of review, thousands of pages of company and expert evidence, a comprehensive oral hearing and a thorough process for submissions by Enbridge Gas, OEB Staff, and a number of informed and expert customer and public interest intervenor representatives. The comprehensive, well-written and fully reasoned decision is 147 pages long decided that what is best for Ontarians is to end subsidies for new natural gas hook ups. I fully support this decision.

We are in of climate crisis and must incentivize the transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables as soon as possible.

I oppose the government’s intentions to:

Set the ‘revenue horizon’ or amortization period for new methane gas connections to residential properties, empowering the Ford government to overturn the important and progressive December 2023 Ontario Energy Board decision to reset this horizon from 40 years to 0 years.

Require the Ontario Energy Board to hold hearings on issues for which focused Board hearings are already underway or issues for which a Board decision has already been made.

Require the Ontario Energy Board to undo a decision to refuse a ‘Leave to Construct’ order (required to proceed with significant methane gas pipelines) or to remove any conditions that the Board has placed on a Leave to Construct order related to methane gas transmission and distribution lines.

Thank you for considering my comments.
Nori Smith