Letters to the Editor: Impacts of Portlands Energy Centre must be considered by Ontario Energy Board

The Ontario government has ignored health and climate concerns raised by local residents and Toronto Council about the Portlands Energy Centre (PEC) on Toronto’s waterfront.

Now they appear to be rubber stamping the renewal of the gas plant’s licence – with no opportunity for public consultation.
PEC is a gas burning electricity plant that is located in the Port Lands area, close to Tommy Thompson Park.

PEC is the largest emitter of harmful nitrogen oxides and greenhouse gases in Toronto. Its output capacity was increased from 550 to 600 megawatts (MW) last fall although it is currently licensed by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to only operate at 550 megawatts.

Atura Power, the wholly owned subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation that operates the plant, did the absolute minimum to meet the Environmental Screening process requirements prior to the expansion. The Ontario government has acquiesced to Atura completely, ignoring concerns raised by the community, public health experts and Toronto councillors on PEC’s climate, health and cost impacts.

PEC’s OEB licence expires on March 10 of this year. There is currently no publicly scheduled hearing for its renewal and increasing its operation limit to 600 MW.

TERRE (Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy) has sent many requests for information to the OEB to determine the status of Atura’s licence, which have gone unanswered. Will the OEB hold a public licence hearing or just rubber stamp the renewal, undermining democratic participation in Ontario?

Even if they do hold a hearing, the OEB does not consider environmental or health concerns in its licensing review. It is all about the financial viability of Atura and whether they are a dependable generator of electricity for the Ontario market and “carry on business in accordance with the law, integrity and honesty”.

While the plant may meet the official business requirements, PEC’s development and operating history is one of double-speak, false promises and evasion.

When the plant was first proposed, it was promised to be a peaker plant that would run only a few hours a day, thereby supposedly minimizing local air pollution concerns. Over time the plant has steadily increased its electricity production to the point where it is running 21 hours or more a day during periods of high demand.

Atura claimed there had been no public health and safety concerns raised about the recent expansion. The hundreds who participated in public meetings and made submissions raising those very concerns prove this claim to be false.

While Atura reports greenhouse gas and nitrogen oxide emissions from the plant, there is no ongoing air quality monitoring in the area – the nearest monitoring station is five kilometres away.

The waterfront area near PEC is being redeveloped, including the beautiful new Biidaasige Park and a number of proposed housing developments. When the issue of community impacts in the evolving neighbourhood was raised with Atura Power, they commented that they were there first, so others would have to adapt. But people have lived in the area long before the plant existed.

Furthermore, PEC’s continued use of American fracked gas for electricity generation has impacts far beyond the city limits, including poisoned water and lands in the areas being fracked, and climate impacts from pipeline methane leaks.

During the first licensing hearing for PEC back in 2006, then Toronto-Danforth MP Jack Layton opposed the licence on health and environmental grounds. This was ruled inadmissible to the process. What kind of licensing process does not consider these impacts relevant? Can we afford to allow PEC to continue operating without considering its impacts on existing and future communities?

From our perspective, Atura and PEC have lost their social licence in our community and we demand a robust review of its air quality and health impacts on existing and future communities.

Join TERRE, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA), and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) on Monday, March 9, at 2:30 pm at Leslie Lookout Park nearby PEC to speak out about these issues.

Corey Helm
David Smith
Brian Champ
For Toronto East
Residents for Renewable Energy (TERRE)