Ontario aims to close coal-fired plants by 2007, use renewable energy

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

The Ontario government is signaled its determination to pursue renewable energy sources by setting a goal of shutting down its five coal-fired electricity generating plants over the next three years.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said Canada’s most populous province and largest natural gas consumer has hired a technical advisor to oversee a competitive contracting process to deal with Ontario’s immediate supply issues and increase renewable capacity.

Duncan said the province wants 2,500 megawatts of new generating capacity and energy conservation initiatives in place by 2007 and 300 megawatts of renewable energy in place as soon as possible.

He said those combined 2,800 megawatts account for one-third of the energy needed to replace coal-fired plants, which meet 25 percent of Ontario’s electricity needs.

To that end, Ontario is asking the Canadian government to help shut down coal-fired plants, stressing that the closure would be a key factor in meeting the Kyoto Accord targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Without identifying the likely source of “new” energy, Duncan said conservation must be a priority.

“It is one of the single-most important things we can do over the long-term,” he said, referring to a “beer fridge” bounty program to get old, inefficient appliances out of houses.

Duncan also said his government will also allow local electricity distributors to earn their full commercial return starting next year if they reinvest a year’s worth of that money in conservation programs, an amount that could total about C$225 million a year.