The OCAA has seven ideas for how Premier Wynne can remake Ontario’s electricity system as a lean and efficient service machine. The seven points range from reducing peak demand by increasing participation in the underused peaksaver program to increasing use of combined heat and power technology. These seven steps are the key to unlocking both cost savings and increased productivity in Ontario and we hope the Premier will act on each and every one of them.
Toronto Hydro is planning to build a $272 million transformer station near the CN Tower to meet peak summer demand for power in the downtown core. But what the utility and the Ontario Power Authority have not done is fully exploit the potential to deal with this rising demand through energy efficiency programs and distributed power generation, especially solar energy generation. Our new factsheet explains why this latter approach is a much better option for Toronto.
We have the power to choose
Ontario must decide: Spend $35 billion rebuilding the Darlington Nuclear Station or spend $16 billion to secure the same amount of energy by retrofitting 2.3 million homes. Nuclear is the highest risk, highest cost way to meet the provnince's energy needs, yet both the Liberals and Conservatives support rebuilding the aging nuclear plant. That provides the opportunity for NDP and Leader Andrea Horwath to take a clear stand and support options like home retrofits instead of another risky nuclear project.
The City of Guelph has developed a farsighted Community Energy Plan that emphasizes local, sustainable energy production from sources like solar, geothermal and combined heat and power and that sets ambitious targets for improving its residents’ and businesses’ energy efficiency. But there is a big disconnect between the plan and the Ontario Power Authority's plan to build another high-voltage transmission line to bring in power from large centralized generation plants like the Darlington nuclear station. The OPA needs to be directed to support Guelph's plan, not undermine it,
How Ontario can reduce electricity costs by $1.2 billion
Our new report outlines how by shutting down dirty coal plants today and phasing out the expensive and aging Pickering Nuclear Station, Ontario can save more than a billion dollars on its annual electricity bill. With a large electricity generation surplus, this is the perfect time to get rid of these money losing plants and start down the road to a clean, green future.
Ontario can reap multi-billion dollar electricity savings: Ontario's electricity bills can be reduced by $1.7 billion to $9.1 billion per year by 2030 by importing water power from Quebec and investing in energy efficiency and natural gas-fired combined heat and power plants instead of continued wasteful spending on nuclear power. Read all about it in OCAA’s new report: Energizing the Drummond Report: How Ontario can reap multi-billion dollar electricity savings.
Making energy efficiency work for Ontario's economy
How Ontario can create thousands of new jobs, reduce government deficits
and grow its economy by embracing energy efficiency
Our report looks at how five key actions can deliver enormous finanacial benefits for Ontario while also helping our climate and our environment.
Read the accompanying analysis of the economic impact of increased energy efficiency produced by the Centre for Spatial Economics, one of Ontario's top economic forecasters.
Conservation vs. New Supply factsheet: This factsheet summarizes the Ontario Power Authority's spending on new supply sources compared to its spending on efficiency and conservation methods.
The case for phasing our nuclear power
OCAA Chair Jack Gibbons on how Ontario can phase out nuclear power:
Darlington Re-Build Could Cost $21 to $35 Billion
OPG is seeking permission from the Ontario Energy Board to raise its rates commencing March 2011 to start paying for the Darlington Re-Build project. According to OPG, its proposal to extend the operating life of Darlington by 30 years will cost $8.5 to $14 billion. However, as this OCAA report notes, every single nuclear project in Ontario’s history has gone over budget and the actual costs of Ontario’s nuclear projects have been 2.5 times greater than the original cost estimates.
Powerful Options: A review of Ontario’s options for replacing aging nuclear plants
This new report discusses how hydro-electricity imports from Quebec and the development of the Lower Churchill Falls Project in Labrador can replace Ontario’s aging nuclear. In fact, it finds that Ontario has a number of viable options for replacing nuclear that are available now at a lower cost than building new nuclear reactors.
The Ontario Government has announced that is moving up the deadline for phasing out coal burning to 2013. All units at the giant Nanticoke and Lambton plants in Southern Ontario will be closed by the end of this year. Coal burning has already ceased at the Atikokan coal plant (now converted to biomass), while the Lakeview coal plant, once the largest air polluter in the GTA, was demolished in 2006. Two units at a small plant in Thunder Bay will remain available for use until the end of 2014, but will probably see little if any actual coal burning given the large surplus of hydroelectricity in this region.
This is a huge victory for the people of Ontario, representing the largest single greenhouse gas emissions reduction action in North America and the elimination of a huge source of smog and toxic emissions. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance led the fight for the coal phase out and said it could be done ahead of the government's official deadline of Dec. 31, 2014. Now, we are working to ensure that Ontario builds a clean and green energy future. Please support one of the most effective clean energy champions in Ontario!
Higher Profits and Lower Bills: A New Electricity Strategy for Hydro Quebec
Hydro Quebec’s profits will fall by 24% and its rates will rise by 8% according to this new report released by Equiterre and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA). Having developed all of the province’s low-cost hydro-electric resources, Hydro Quebec can no longer increase its profits and lower its rates by building new low-cost hydro facilities.
The OCAA has seven ideas for how Premier Wynne can remake Ontario’s electricity system as a lean and efficient service machine. The seven points range from reducing peak demand by increasing participation in the underused peaksaver program to increasing use of combined heat and power technology. These seven steps are the key to unlocking both cost savings and increased productivity in Ontario and we hope the Premier will act on each and every one of them. 
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