Gas plants must stay, new energy minister confirms

This article was written by Rob Ferguson and was published in the Toronto Star on June 14, 2024.

Ontario’s new energy minister says the fast-growing province can’t afford an “ideological” push to wean its electricity system off fossil fuels, even as concerns about climate change mount.

“I cannot underscore this enough,” Stephen Lecce said Thursday at the Darlington nuclear plant where the next phase of construction is beginning on a small modular reactor.

“We will not pursue an ideological path that will deny some forms of energy when we need all of them to help fuel our economy.”

Lecce was appointed head of the rebranded Ministry of Energy and Electrification a week ago when Premier Doug Ford shuffled his cabinet and adjourned the legislature for an unusually long summer break — until Oct. 21. MPPs had been scheduled to return Sept. 9.

The government has faced criticism for a growing reliance on natural gas-fuelled power plants to keep the lights on at times of peak demand.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said Lecce, who spent the past several years as minister of education, is “disconnected from the reality Ontario is facing.”

“Ramping up expensive, dirty gas plants makes no sense when people are facing an affordability crisis and a climate emergency,” Schreiner added in a statement.

Statistics from the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), which manages the needs of the electricity system on a day-to-day basis, show use of natural-gas-fired power plants last year was up 26 per cent from 2022 and at the highest usage level since 2012.

As recently as 2017, Ontario’s electricity grid was 96-per-cent free of carbon emissions, but that has now fallen to 87 per cent in a trend environmental groups warn is the wrong direction.

Lecce said his mandate in the new ministry is to “scale up our energy using all forms of nuclear and natural gas and renewables” in what he called “an all-of-the-above approach to build for the future” as the province’s population and industries grow rapidly.

That industrial growth includes new electric vehicle battery plants for Stellantis in Windsor, Volkswagen near St. Thomas and Honda in Alliston, in addition to new electric arc furnaces for steelmakers.

Last month, the IESO contracted for new power supply from 10 battery storage facilities and three natural gas and biogas plants amid surging electricity demand.

Battery storage projects can charge during off-peak hours and shoot energy into the grid as needed during peak times, such as hot summer afternoons and evenings.

Author: Ray Nakano

Ray is a retired, third generation Japanese Canadian born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He resides in Toronto where he worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years. Ray was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011 and practises in the Plum Village tradition, supporting sanghas in their mindfulness practice. Ray is very concerned about our climate crisis. He has been actively involved with the ClimateFast group (https://climatefast.ca) for the past 5 years. He works to bring awareness of our climate crisis to others and motivate them to take action. He has created the myclimatechange.home.blog website, for tracking climate-related news articles, reports, and organizations. He has created mobilizecanada.ca to focus on what you can do to address the climate crisis. He is always looking for opportunities to reach out to communities, politicians, and governments to communicate about our climate crisis and what we need to do. He says: “Our world is in dire straits. We have to bend the curve on our heat-trapping pollutants in the next few years if we hope to avoid the most serious impacts of human-caused global warming. Doing nothing is not an option. We must do everything we can to create a livable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations.”