Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault had what must surely qualify as a religious conversion about how to generate and sell power today as he addressed the Empire Club in Toronto. He said that from now on he will be a “technology agnostic” about buying electricity free from the near-fanatical zeal shown by the Liberals for wind and solar. They even toyed with eliminating natural gas. In terms of energy costs and the tax burden now being shouldered by Ontarians, the solution may not be as simple as that however. Thibeault admitted that Ontario has an unknown number of long-term contracts for renewable energy projects that specified a generation technology. That he says is “arbitrary, and leads to sub-optimal siting, uncompetitive prices and heightened community concern.” Sadly, the contracts remain. Premier Wynne recently admitted her government made a mistake by not recognizing the impact of its energy policies on electricity bills, and promised some sort of relief for consumers. Thibeault told the Empire Club of Canada that Ontario has signed contracts for so much electricity that any future deals will be for minimal amounts of power because it “will be seeking to secure supply on the margins.” He hinted at electricity plans that better suit the needs of different types of consumers. “I need to work with the industry to talk about ways of giving consumers options,” he said.
