Ford needs to shut down Pickering nuke

The Ford Government’s mantra is “promise made, promise kept.” But in the case of its promise to cut electricity bills by 12% there is still a long road ahead. Showing the board and CEO of Hydro One the exit and cutting renewable energy contracts will not be sufficient. Premier Ford is going to need to dig a lot deeper, like at the Pickering Nuclear Station.

Real savings mean saying no to nuclearPickering is Ontario’s high-cost nuclear energy project. In our new report, Three Options to Reduce Ontario’s Electricity Costs, we have outlined how taking a pass on some or all of these high-cost nuclear projects could save Ontario electricity consumers anywhere from $1.1 to $5.7 billion per year.

The Ford Government can take a fiscally responsible approach to our electricity system by closing the highest-cost nuclear plant in North America – the Pickering Nuclear Station – when its licence expires this summer. Furthermore, Premier Ford can actually preserve and create jobs in Pickering by ordering the immediate decommissioning of the closed plant and make way for the redevelopment of Pickering’s waterfront.

The numbers are black-and-white: Replacing high-cost nuclear power with low-cost water power from Quebec can result in enormous savings. That’s the bottom line our new Premier needs to focus on.

Please contact Premier Ford (doug.ford@pc.ola.org) and ask him to direct the Independent Electricity System Operator to analyse the potential cost savings that Ontario can achieve by importing low-cost Quebec power to replace higher-cost nuclear power.

— Angela Bischoff