Letters to the Editor: Province’s ‘disappointing’ plan for Toronto’s future electricity supply is a missed opportunity
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Energy Minister Stephen Lecce have presented Beach residents, and all of Toronto, with a wrenchingly disappointing gift as we head into this season of giving, the plan for Toronto’s electricity supply for the next 20 years – the Integrated Regional Resource Plan (IRRP).
The plan was recently released by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), a Crown corporation responsible for planning and operating the electricity grid in Ontario. It cements the Ford government’s priorities – nuclear expansion and continued fossil gas reliance – over Toronto’s climate goals and community-driven solutions such as rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and storage.
The IRRP recommends a third transmission line running from the Darlington nuclear plant to Toronto’s Port Lands, most likely drawing on power from yet-to-be built Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
In the interim, and possibly for many more years to come, the fossil fuel powered Portlands Energy Centre (PEC), located on the lake just west of the Beach, will continue to release health-harmful and atmosphere-damaging pollution. This plan minimizes the considerable potential of the city’s local renewable energy strategies and locks us into the most expensive forms of electricity, thereby ultimately worsening the affordability crisis facing residents across Toronto.
In 2024, Toronto Council passed a motion asking that the IRRP align with the city’s 2040 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by phasing out gas-fired electricity generation at PEC by 2035 (except in extreme, exceptional and emergency circumstances) and by rapidly increasing local renewable energy generation, storage, and energy efficiency. The IRRP fails to meet this direct request and does not provide a plan for the phase-out of PEC.
Recent data from the National Pollutant Release Inventory indicates that, in 2024, PEC was once again the largest single source of nitrogen oxides in Toronto. According to the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), health issues linked to emissions of nitrogen oxides include lung and heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, Alzheimer’s and more. Emissions of fine particulate matter and volatile organic compounds – substances associated with serious health risks – also increased last year.
PEC holds the title for the largest single emitter of greenhouse gases in Toronto. Greenhouse gases drive climate change, the consequences of which are now all too familiar to Torontonians: increased days of extreme heat, flooding, and forest fire smoke. These consequences have the greatest impact on the vulnerable in our city with heat and smoke most affecting the young, the elderly and the unwell, and with low-cost housing more often located in flood risk areas.
In addition to not providing a path to phase out PEC, the IRRP is further misaligned with the city’s climate strategy by minimizing the potential of local renewables, energy storage and energy efficiency.
Renewables can contribute significantly to meeting Toronto’s energy needs. McDiarmid Climate Consulting has estimated that rooftop solar on Toronto’s homes, buildings, and large parking lots could supply more than 60 per cent of the forecasted rise in electricity demand.
Affordability is a real concern for our city. With hydro rates on the rise, we need our leaders to support energy solutions that are both affordable and sustainable. Analysis by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance indicates that energy efficiency and renewables can meet Toronto’s future electricity needs at a much lower cost than new nuclear reactors and continued reliance on fossil gas.
Not only are renewable options more cost-effective, they have the potential to create thousands of local jobs.
We are not opposed to a third transmission line in principle, but it must support – not delay – the transition to renewable energy. Toronto needs a modernized grid to support the city’s growing electricity needs. The third line should be part of a resilient grid that integrates with local energy sources, storage, and efficiency strategies.
Cities around the world are shifting to renewable energy. Toronto can be among the leaders or be left behind.
We are calling on our city councillors and mayor to provide leadership where the IESO and the province have failed us – and to direct Toronto Hydro to come up with an alternative, forward-looking, and affordable plan.
Please contact your city councillor to request they step up for renewable energy in our city. Members of the city’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee can be contacted with this letter tool: https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/179992/action/1
Lynn Blaxley and Corey Helm
Members of Toronto East Residents for
Renewable
Energy (TERRE)
