Ontario Premier McGuinty thought he was going to have a good news day when his government announced a 10% cut in electricity rates for Jan 1, 2011. This all blew up in his face when it was revealed that Ontario power consumers will face a 45% rate increase in the next 5 years which will more than offset this government subsidized treat (i.e. taxpayers rewarding themselves with their own money).
This is common knowledge. What we need to keep our eye focused on is why electricity rates in Ontario are climbing. The basic problem is that Ontario no longer builds power plants, while it is hell-bent on shutting down existing plants. No nuclear plants are in the works; the gas-fired plant scheduled for Oakville is shelved while the Lakeview Thermoelectric Station was shut down because it burned coal. Talk of shutting down the coal fired plants at Lambton and even Nanticoke persists. Meanwhile local utilities are offering exorbitant subsidies to proprietors of wind farms and solar arrays. This counterproductive behaviour isn’t just a silly Liberal idea. Red Tories Ernie Eves and John Tory also promised to shut down our coal plants, just not as many and not as fast as the Liberals (the “me-too-but…” strategy).
As long as Ontario’s electricity policy is governed by a stuff white people like ethos rather than a realistic appraisal of real-world factors, our electricity rates will continue to rise. The facts of the matter are: coal is the cheapest source of reliable power; nuclear is the cleanest source of reliable power; natural gas is cleaner than coal and cheaper than nuclear; solar and wind are too unreliable to ever form more than a small subset of Ontario’s power; and the examples from various European countries show that green energy is a money losing dog. These are fundamental truths that the arts-and-croissant crowd in downtown Toronto doesn’t like to think about because it is too messy. Nevertheless we have no option but to ponder such concerns if we want to keep enjoying reliable cheap electricity in Ontario.
The environmentalists would doubtlessly point out pollution problems and global warming concerns. But even if we assume that global warming is a real crisis, then why are they against nuclear power? the one proven generation technology that doesn’t contribute to greenhouse gases at all. Just look at the French power grid. It doesn’t emit any pollution.
Hopefully the leader of the Ontario Conservative Party, Tim Hudak, shows more understanding of this issue than his two hapless predecessors.
I don't understand the big deal about electic cars. Quite frankly, they are a joke. Today's internal combustion engines run very, very clean. They are not the problem (if indeed, there IS a problem). Generating the electricity needed to recharge these electrics things is going to be a nightmare (very costly and no easier on the environment than the internal combustion engines the electrics will supposedly replace.)
There are really only two ways to go - gas and nuclear (and I'm betting that new coal technology burns very clean too).
And the U.S. still gets something like half of its electricity from burning coal. PM Harper makes the point that unless we have the U.S. and China on board, anything we do is a drop in the bucket (and I'm not convinced that humans are responsible for more than a very small fraction of climate change, anyway).
Posted by: John T | November 20, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Or import green (mostly) electricity from Quebec. But no, this is too simple and doesn't create jobs in Ontario. Meanwhile high electricity rates will kill jobs in Ontario.
Posted by: Nicola Timmerman | November 20, 2010 at 03:14 PM
Many companies I've worked for have a training period for new employees before they start actually doing the job.
It's too bad the people who are elected to public office aren't required to take some courses in basic economics before they start their jobs.
We won't let a kid serve hamburgers without training,but we'll trust the fate of our Country to a bunch of elected salesmen,most of whom prove quickly they have no idea how an economy runs.
Lesson one: the necessity of having cost effective electric power for homes and industry.
They can spend some of the time they usually spend "schmoozing" with the elites,in a classroom learning how NOT to destroy the economy of the Province or Country they're about to serve in,not rule over.
Posted by: dmorris | November 20, 2010 at 05:05 PM
Fortunately people are starting to wake up on this issue. There is huge opposition to wind turbines in Ontario, and the more wind farms they try to build, the more people study the issue and discover that so called "green" energy is nothing more than a "Red" herring.
Posted by: WiseGuy | November 21, 2010 at 11:09 PM
This green energy idea is just another wealth redistribution scam and a pay off to buddies.
I can't honestly think of a single thing the greenies have come up with that is correct.
Take plastic bags, vs. reusable. One washing of the reusable uses about 3 times the energy of the disposable plastic bag, and the bag can be made from corn.
Another scam, another green lie used to subjugate the stupid.
Posted by: bmatkin | November 23, 2010 at 03:52 AM