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Ontario to Spend $85 Billion to Boost Use of Nuclear, Wind, Solar Energy
The government of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, announced plans to spend billions of dollars more on nuclear reactors, wind and solar projects and to eliminate coal plants by 2014.
Ontario, which generates more than a third of Canada’s output, is to use C$87 billion ($85 billion) to build at least two nuclear plants and refurbish 10 others over the next 20 years, as well as pay for new wind, solar and biomass projects, the province said today.
“Our energy plan is an economic plan with Ontario at the forefront of clean energy, creating a new industry and new jobs,” Brad Duguid, Ontario’s minister of energy, said in an e- mailed statement.
Nuclear energy is to receive the largest chunk of capital spending at C$33 billion, followed by C$14 billion for wind power, $9 billion for solar power and $4.6 billion for hydro- electricity. The plan also marked C$12 billion for conservation, C$9 billion for transmission lines, C$4 billion for biomass, and C$1.88 billion for natural gas.
The long-term plan, which has been hinted at in government statements this year, kept nuclear power at its current rate of half of the province’s energy mix while maintaining the government’s pledge to eliminate 6.4 gigawatts of coal power in four years.
Higher Rates Planned
The province, home to 13.2 million people, plans to boost household and small-business electricity rates by 3.5 percent a year over the next 20 years. By then homeowners will pay about double what they pay now, while demand will rise about 15 percent, the plan said. Industrial rates are to increase by 2.7 percent annually over the same period.
The plan targets industrial consumers to cut their power use by 20 percent to save 5,840 megawatts by 2020 in conservation efforts that the plan calls “among the most aggressive in North America.”
Half of the conservation target is expected from the commercial sector and the residential sector is to contribute 30 percent.
The government offered a 10 percent rebate on electricity bills to homeowners and small businesses on Nov. 18. That more than countered an 8 percent rise in bills in May after changes to the provincial sales tax.
Under that program, a typical home with a monthly bill of C$128 will see a yearly reduction of C$153.60 on their electricity bills, the government said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Colin McClelland in Toronto at cmcclelland1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
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