Doug Ford’s renewables U-turn has a lot further to go

When Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario was elected in 2018, one of his first moves as premier was to tear up hundreds of renewable energy contracts. 

It cost taxpayers more than $230 million, and at the time, Ford said he was proud of the decision to cancel “those terrible, terrible wind turbines.” 

Over the past six years, the PCs have continued their crusade against renewable energy, railing against wind power and funneling billions of dollars into building dirty fossil gas plants. 

The premier went so far as to guarantee that new gas plants would receive payment from the government until their contracts expire in 2040, even if they are forced to shut down due to the federal phaseout of fossil fuels. In other words, they’ll be paid to produce no energy.

This love of fossil gas has had a negative impact on our energy grid. 

Under the Ford government, Ontario’s energy grid has gone from 96 per cent emissions free to 87 per cent over the course of just a few years — exactly the opposite direction we need to be heading in at a time of climate chaos.

Given the Conservative’s track record, I was surprised late last year when then-energy minister Todd Smith announced the government’s intention to procure 5,000 megawatts of renewable power over the next five years — nearly doubling the province’s supply of wind and solar power.

While it was about six years late, I was glad to see the Ford government finally give up on its ideological opposition to low-cost renewables. 

But any optimism I had about the future of Ontario’s grid was paired with a healthy dose of doubt. While the message the government was sending was a positive one, its renewables pledge was still undermined by its ongoing plans to expand gas plants and keep Ontarians hooked on fossil fuels.

My skepticism turned out to be well-founded, as earlier this month, newly-minted energy minister Stephen Lecce announced that procurement would now include other, non-renewable forms of energy, including fossil gas and nuclear.

The Conservatives will talk a lot about why it needs to be “technology agnostic,” or why fossil gas makes sense as an “insurance policy” for a growing energy grid. 

What they fail to mention is that technology (and the economy) has changed rapidly since they came into power.  Today, renewables are cleaner, cheaper to build and make far more economic sense than fossil gas, full-stop. This combined with the dramatic decrease in the cost of battery storage means renewables provide the low-cost, reliable source of electricity the province desperately needs. 

For the first time last year, the world invested as much money in the clean energy transition as it spent producing oil, gas and coal. The International Energy Agency has estimated that in 2024, global investment in clean energy is likely to double fossil fuels.

At the same time that countries and provinces are reaping the benefits of their clean energy investments, Ontario is headed in the wrong direction. In the United States, renewable energy investments have already netted $249 billion in climate and health benefits over a three-year period.

And yet, Ontario continues to make decisions like extending its outdated moratorium on offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes, even though they could provide the province with enough clean energy to meet all of our province’s growing demand at less than 60 per cent of the cost of new nuclear plants. 

It’s an economic and environmental no-brainer. What, then, is the reason for the Ford government’s enduring obsession with fossil gas?

A lot of it has to do with longstanding ties to fossil gas giant Enbridge.

Reporting by Fatima Syed has shown how the corporate giant has been pushing the government to ensure Ontario municipalities stay reliant on fossil gas to protect its bottom line.

She recounts how Enbridge worked with senior ministry officials on the government’s decision to overturn an Ontario Energy Board (OEB) ruling that the cost of new fossil gas hookups should be paid up-front by developers, instead of being passed onto homeowners on their monthly gas bills. (The ruling was made in acknowledgment of the fact that fossil gas is becoming a stranded asset as cleaner, cheaper technologies like heat pumps enter the market.)

The back-and-forth between Enbridge and the Ford government showed the government was more concerned about how the OEB ruling would add “substantial” costs to Enbridge than helping people save money. 

This exchange says a lot about the premier’s priorities. Protecting Enbridge’s billion-dollar bottom line? Yep. Helping Ontarians save on their energy bills? Not so much.

This willingness to keep Ontario hooked on fossil gas is part of the Ford government’s commitment to enriching wealthy, well-connected insiders at the expense of the climate — and everyone else. 

As technology evolves and global investment in clean energy continues to grow, the Ford government’s clinging to fossil gas will only become more out of touch and more obviously focused on protecting wealthy donors over everyday people.

Any future that includes fossil gas expansion is not a future that puts Ontarians first. The clock is running out on the Ford government’s old ways. It would do well to change course while it still can.

Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Ontario Green Party and the MPP for Guelph, Ontario.