Please do not pass the…

Please do not pass the proposed amendments to the Ontario Energy Board Act. This Bill will cost Ontario citizens billions of dollars and threaten our health and climate.
As an Enbridge customer, making me pay for the costs of Enbridge's planned future infrastructure will cost me approximately $120 a year (according to figures provided by Ontario Energy Board and Environmental Defence).

I don’t mind paying taxes because most of the time it's a way of ensuring everyone gets a fair share of the benefits of living in Ontario.
But this expenditure won't benefit anyone except Enbridge:
- If new homes installed air-source heat pumps instead of Enbridge's methane gas, home owners' heating and cooling costs would be lower.
- If new homes relied on conventional electric or induction stoves instead of methane gas, the indoor air would be healthier. Taylor Gruenwald et al found that 13% of childhood asthma in the US is attributable to gas stove use. Using my tax dollars to subsidize Enbridge and encourage the continued use of fossil gas powered appliances will likely increase our health costs.

So I will be paying $120 a year -- to Enbridge -- so it can encourage new customers to pay more than they need to for heating and cooling their homes, and at the same time, endanger their and their children's health.
Worst of all, increased reliance on fossil gas dooms us to increasing costs from the floods, forest fires, heat waves etc that will accompany global warming. Because methane (natural gas) is a major cause of global warming.

This decision also encourages prolonged dependency on natural gas. If Enbridge customers aren’t forced to subsidize Enbridge's new business, the company might make the smart decision to diversify their energy offerings into other fields.
Many jurisdictions, e.g. New York State, are banning, and even fining, developers and building operators that persist in relying on fossil gas.

Enbridge should see the writing on the wall, and avoid further investment into what will likely become stranded assets.
And the Ontario government should be encouraging Enbridge to make the smart business decision to diversify. Instead, this Act, if passed, will force its customers (like me) to pay for Enbridge's unwise continuance of this ultimately doomed business direction.
Amending the Ontario Energy Board Act is not in the best interests of Ontario citizens.