A Realistic Energy Plan for Toronto

In response to projected electricity demand in Toronto, particularly on hot summer days when the transmission lines into the city are at capacity, the Province has announced the construction of a 550 MW gas-fired power plant in the Portlands called the Portlands Energy Centre. Toronto Hydro proposes instead to build a 290-580 MW gas-fired peaking plant on the Portlands. A third plan called the “10-point Green Energy Plan” proposes a gas-fired cogenerator up to 250 MW on the same site, where unfortunately no cogeneration opportunities exist. A gas-fired generator is an inappropriate response when simple efficiency measures could more than solve the problem.

The immense $700 million cost of the Portlands Energy Centre can only be recovered through increased energy sales, leaving the government with fewer financial resources to encourage conservation and no incentive to do so. As natural gas is a dwindling resource, the future financial viability of the Portlands Energy Centre is not secure, opening the possibility that further electricity debt will have to be covered by even greater energy sales from future sources. Construction of the PEC feeds our addiction to energy overconsumption rather than solving the problem.

The first and most important response to demand increases should be an aggressive conservation program that centres on real-cost energy pricing. Ontarians use 60% more electricity per capita than our neighbours in New York state. There is immense conservation potential, far more than this generator will achieve, at far lower cost and with many substantial economic and health benefits.

Conservation should be complemented by infrastructure improvements that focus on demand shifting from peak periods to times where electrical demand is lower.

Toronto should also contribute to the generation of cleaner power. Appropriate generation investments are in dispersed generation from renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass and in cogeneration. Suitable cogeneration opportunities, unlike the Portlands, are existing industrial boilers that could be used to produce electricity as a by-product. Renewable sources such as solar and wind power can be installed quickly and are becoming increasingly economical. They also have substantial benefits in low operating costs, virtually no adverse health effects and greater potential for job creation.

Generation from fossil fuels in large facilities with no thermal host should be discouraged unless absolutely necessary, as it is inefficient, contributes significantly to global warming, and has negative effects on air quality and human health.

Energy decisions that have substantial effects on local health and that will have impacts for decades to come must only be made with adequate and meaningful consultation with the communities they will affect.

We need a realistic energy plan for Toronto.

Mayor Miller has agreed to meet with the authors, and additional support will help strengthen their case for conservation, demand shifting, and cleaner power.

Email adriana@danforthgreens.ca to endorse this plan. Also, please email others who may want to add their names to the list of endorsements: