Integrated Energy Resource Plan Consultation

Overview

The Ministry of Energy and Electrification has released an energy policy vision paper, “Ontario’s Affordable Energy Future: The Pressing Case for More Power,” to guide the build out of an affordable, reliable and clean energy system to meet the exceptional growth needs of Ontario. This paper outlines the vision through which Ontario intends to create its first integrated energy resource plan. This plan, which will be developed for release in 2025, will consider the long-term view of energy use across the economy and across all sources of energy. It will detail actions and policy steps that will be taken to meet needs and to keep our clean energy system affordable, reliable and abundant over the long term.

The Ministry of Energy and Electrification is seeking input and perspectives from the public, stakeholders and Indigenous communities to inform the integrated energy resource plan. This initiative builds on significant work completed over the past six years to refine system planning and meet the challenge of a growing economy.

To facilitate informed input on the integrated energy resource plan, this posting includes links to several background and technical materials as well as other active consultations the ministry is currently undertaking. This is followed by a series of questions to help direct input into areas of planning that the Ministry of Energy and Electrification believes would benefit from more focused consideration.

Your feedback will be carefully considered as the Ministry of Energy and Electrification moves forward with developing and launching Ontario’s first integrated energy resource plan.

Background: Planning for Growth

Ontario will need more power in the coming years. This need will be driven by greater electrification, the connection of new businesses and an increase in housing development to serve a growing population. The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has projected electricity demand growth of 75% over the next 25 years. That means Ontario needs 111 TwH more energy by 2050, the equivalent of four and a half cities of Toronto. There is also continued demand for other fuels like gasoline and natural gas, that currently play a critical role in powering our vehicles, heating our homes and attracting new jobs in manufacturing, including the automotive industry and agriculture. 

There is also potential for this growth to continue to accelerate due to global trends in electrification of the economy. The IESO’s Pathways to Decarbonization report, released in 2022, explored a scenario with a high pace of electrification of the economy and found that this could lead to a potential tripling of required electricity capacity, requiring $375B - $425B of investment in energy resources from now to 2050.

To acknowledge these trends and to take early action to build out its energy system, the government released Powering Ontario’s Growth in July 2023. The government also established the Energy and Electrification Transition Panel (EETP) to advise on better integration of energy planning across sectors, fuels, and aspects of the planning process. The final report of the EETP, titled Ontario’s Clean Energy Opportunity, was released in January 2024.

Proposal

With the release of “Ontario’s Affordable Energy Future: The Pressing Case for More Power,”  the Ministry of Energy and Electrification is building on the significant work to date to create an integrated energy resource plan. The vision includes a number of priorities related to meeting Ontario’s energy needs now and, in the future, including ensuring energy remains affordable and reliable throughout the energy transition, ensuring customer choice, and expanding Ontario’s energy leadership by identifying opportunities to build on the province’s clean energy economy, increase cost-effective electricity exports, and extend Ontario’s global nuclear leadership. The vision commits to working in partnership with Indigenous communities in the build out of Ontario’s energy system, to advance economic reconciliation and enable Indigenous leadership and participation in the energy sector. The vision also establishes Ontario’s commitment to regular integrated energy resource planning with enhanced agency roles and strengthened linkages to local, regional and inter-jurisdictional planning processes.

Guiding Questions

Feedback on the questions below will help inform the province’s integrated energy resource plan. The questions are structured to align with the key energy policy priorities in “Ontario’s Affordable Energy Future: The Pressing Case for More Power,” which can help inform your feedback on the questions below. 

Overarching Question:

• What policy options and actions should the government consider in the integrated energy resource plan to achieve Ontario’s vision for meeting growing energy needs, keeping energy affordable and reliable, ensuring customer choice and positioning us to be an energy superpower? 

Planning for Growth

• Building on the recommendations of the EETP’s final report, what actions should be prioritized to enhance planning across natural gas, electricity, and other fuels?

• The government’s priority is to ensure Ontario has the energy resources it needs to support growth. Are there opportunities to enhance the province’s approach to procuring electricity generation supply to better serve this priority? 

• What actions should government consider to promote greater access to electricity and accelerate grid-connections that will support economic growth, connecting new homes, and electrifying transportation and heating?

• As the need for new transmission infrastructure continues to grow, what steps can government take to ensure that transmitters have the certainty they require to move forward with development work as soon as possible, while also ensuring that competitive pressures keep costs as low as possible?

• What policy guidance should the government provide to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) with respect to the long-term role of natural gas in Ontario’s economy and opportunities for low-carbon alternatives in the gas system?

• How can the government best support Indigenous leadership and participation in energy planning and projects?

• How can provincial planning processes be enhanced to support high growth regions, ensure greater coordination between energy resources, and better integrate municipal, distributor and regional planning processes?

• What cooperation opportunities exist across other jurisdictions to support energy trade, construction of transmission infrastructure (ex. pipelines and interties), and transportation electrification?

• What types of technical information and forecasts would best support sector participants and energy consumers as the system is built out for growth and the economy increasingly electrifies?

Affordable and Reliable Energy

• What further steps should the government take to enable households and businesses to manage and make informed decisions about their energy use?

• What actions could the government consider to ensure the electricity system supports customers who choose to switch to an electric vehicle?

• What actions should government consider that would empower customers to install innovative technologies to generate or store energy on-site to reduce costs and improve resiliency?

• What specific actions could position the integrated energy resource plan to best leverage distributed energy resources (DER) that enhance local and province wide grids to support energy system needs reliably and at the lowest cost?

• What policy or regulatory changes should government consider to address financial risks and support adoption of DER in the long-term?

• With the energy sector evolving and distributors considering new roles in serving customers, what barriers exist that limit local distribution companies from taking on new duties that could enable more efficient grid operations, leverage new technologies and further the integration of DERs?

• What actions can the government take to enhance collaboration between the OEB, the IESO, local distribution companies, industry stakeholders, and local communities to support the investment and integration of DER?

• What further actions could the government take to maintain an affordable energy system for Ontarians throughout the energy transition?

Becoming an Energy Superpower

• What opportunities exist to further capitalize on Ontario’s leadership and expertise in nuclear technology and nuclear innovation?

• What opportunities should Ontario consider to leverage its position as a clean energy leader?

Environmental Impact of the Proposal

The integrated energy resource plan would set out the actions and policy steps the government would take to achieve its vision of an affordable, reliable and clean energy system. Maintaining Ontario’s clean energy advantage and using it to electrify the economy to reduce emissions in Ontario and potentially in neighbouring jurisdictions are key goals. Success in achieving these objectives could have significant positive impacts on the environment.

The approach to planning energy resources, such as electricity generation and transmission, can also have impacts on land (e.g., impacts to farmland) and on local environments and ecosystems, such as watersheds. These will require consideration in the context of Ontario’s strong environmental assessment, permits and approvals framework. 

The Ministry of Energy and Electrification will review all comments submitted through this registry posting and consider them in developing the integrated energy resource plan.