Greens have responsible plan to address energy prices

by Treat Hull GPO ENERY CRITIC

Even before Ontario Power Generation announced earlier this week its intention to seek a six per cent rate increase, citizens across the province were outraged by rising energy costs affecting every consumer from small businesses to seniors on fixed incomes.

Unfortunately, the energy plan offered in response by the McGuinty government is both economically and environmentally flawed.

Here in Ontario, our electrical costs are increasing especially quickly because of three mistakes by previous provincial governments.

Governments – both Tory and Liberal — have made us over-dependent on nuclear mega-projects plagued by cost over-runs. We are still paying off the debt charge for Darlington, yet the McGuinty government is planning a massive new round of nuclear spending.

Previous governments have failed to make the investments needed to keep our infrastructure up to date, decisions catching up with us now in the confusion over connecting about 1,000 solar energy contractors to the grid.

Finally, the current Liberal government is playing the same political games with voters as previous PC and NDP governments.

The McGuinty Liberals have announced that costs are going up but that there will be no price increase for five years, making the situation even worse five years from now. The Liberals are, in effect, trying to buy our votes with our own money.

Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on advertisements telling us how lucky we are that the Liberals are “saving us on our electrical bills,” we need a responsible energy plan based on common sense and principles, not politics.

1. Support Conservation. Conservation can protect consumers from rising energy prices and reduce Ontario’s energy demand.

   The Ontario Home Energy Savings Program helped thousands of homeowners to reduce their electricity bills by updating their homes to improve insulation and heating efficiency, but the Liberals have announced that this program will be terminated at the end of March. Instead of cancelling this successful program, it should be reinstated and expanded to include even more homeowners as well as landlords and tenants.

2. Buy hydroelectric power. To the extent that new sources of electricity are needed, we have yet to fully tap the least expensive and greenest form of energy: hydroelectricity.

   In addition to developing our remaining hydro resources within the province, both Quebec and Manitoba have extensive hydroelectric resources available, as long as we invest in the grid capacity to carry the power — a worthwhile use of the province’s energy dollars.

3. Treat renewable resources responsibly. Large-scale wind and solar will have a vital place in Ontario’s long-term energy future, but it is premature and financially irresponsible to implement it on an industrial scale until the system as a whole is upgraded to efficiently use such intermittent resources, and until the health concerns of citizens are addressed.
4. Upgrade the grid. Ontario’s power grid is in need of significant improvement. Expansion of programs to shed demand at critical times coupled with investment in the “smart grid” will lay the foundations for a future in which large-scale renewables can be used efficiently, not imposed on communities without the necessary infrastructure.

5. Use nuclear as a last resort. The government should only turn to nuclear as an option of last resort when all other less expensive and cleaner options have been exhausted. To the extent that new investments are made in nuclear, the public should not pay for cost over-runs by contractors.

These simple, sensible, prudent steps can mitigate rising energy prices for consumers, using our limited investment dollars to create a reliable and clean energy supply for the future.

Treat Hull is Energy Critic for the Green Party of Ontario and nominated candidate in Prince Edward—Hastings.

originally published in The Intelligencer (Belleville)