Ontario electricity produced with rising percentage of greenhouse-gas-emitting power
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Ontario's electricity is now being produced with the highest percentage of greenhouse-gas-emitting power since coal plants were operating in the province.
The Independent Electricity System Operator recently posted its 2024 year in review, which contains a breakdown of how much electricity was produced from various sources.
It shows that last year 16 per cent of the electricity in Ontario's grid was produced by natural gas, making it 84 per cent emissions free — down from 87 per cent the year before and down from a high of 96 per cent in 2017.
The last time Ontario's electricity was produced with at least 16 per cent of emitting power was in 2012, when the province still had coal-fired generation.
Nuclear led the way in 2024, with 51 per cent of Ontario's electricity generated by those plants, and about 24 per cent came from hydro power.
The percentage of natural gas generation in Ontario's electricity system has been increasing over the past several years. The IESO says gas provides more flexibility than many other sources, and more is being used while some nuclear units undergo refurbishments so the system remains stable.
"Outages to nuclear generation from this work combined with reduced supply from imports also resulted in gas generation's higher contribution to overall output in 2024," the IESO said in its report.
Need to resort to gas was preventable: climate expert
Alienor Rougeot, climate and energy senior program manager at Environmental Defence, said the need to resort to gas to fill in the gaps was preventable if Ontario had acted sooner to boost renewable energy and battery storage.
"I think this is one of those key moments that is extremely upsetting and yet super predictable, which is that the energy planning and the poor decisions that get made five, eight years prior to that now are starting to show up in those supply mixes," she said.
Premier Doug Ford cancelled 750 renewable energy contracts shortly after his Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018, after the former Liberal government had faced widespread anger over long-term contracts with clean power producers at above-market rates.
WATCH | EVs and AI expected to send Ontario's electricity demand soaring:
Ontario's electricity system operator expecting demand to soar 75% by 2050
7 months ago
Duration 3:05
Electricity demand in Ontario is expected to grow by 75 per cent by 2050, which is higher than last year's projection, the province's Independent Electricity System Operator said Wednesday. The corporation says the rise in consumption is partly due to electric-vehicle manufacturing and new data centres that support artificial intelligence. CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp has more.
The IESO had been set in 2023 to seek out non-emitting electricity generation to bring more capacity into the system but after Energy Minister Stephen Lecce came into the portfolio in 2024, he announced the procurement would be "technology agnostic." Critics said that not only opens the door to natural gas but may favour bringing more of it online.
Lecce said the rise in non-emitting electricity generation is "entirely predictable" due to the ongoing nuclear refurbishments.
"Having said that, we're actually going to have a greener, cleaner grid, getting down to below 99 per cent non-emitting by 2050," he said.
"So this is part of the journey as we take our non-emitting nuclear units off the grid, because they need to get refurbished for another 40, 50 years."
Lecce says electricity grid still a good selling feature
The government often touts Ontario's clean electricity grid as a top selling point when attracting businesses and investment to the province, and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he's not sure that at 84 per cent clean it is as attractive as it once was.
"I'm deeply concerned that our grid has gotten 12 per cent dirtier over the last few years, especially when the government itself says that one of the competitive advantages Ontario has in attracting global capital investment is our clean grid," he said.
"The Ford government is losing that advantage at a time we need to be attracting capital more now than ever."
Lecce said the electricity grid is still a good selling feature and will only get better.
"When we're getting to near 99 per cent, it's an incredible achievement that no industrialized economy can point to," he said.
"We're very proud of the fact that we have one of the cleanest grids today. We'll have an even cleaner grid tomorrow as we get our nuclear fleets back."
In addition to ongoing and planned refurbishments of units at the province's large-scale nuclear plants, construction on the first of four small modular reactors is set to begin this year.
The $21-billion project for the four reactors is expected to produce enough power for 1.2 million homes.
Stephen Thomas, clean energy manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, said that small modular reactors are one of the most expensive generation options. But natural gas can also be expensive, and the province should be looking more at renewables, he said.
"We think wind and solar are ready for prime time," he said.
"As we look to the future, we only see the cost of wind, solar and storage coming down over time, and we see the opposite for natural gas. The cost of natural gas is hugely volatile, and it's hard to depend on what the spot price of natural gas might be in 10 years or 20 years."
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Rental Protection Fund was announced in 2023 and has a goal of investing $500-million to help not-for-profits, who, like Aunt Leah's Properties, buy existing, occupied buildings and ensure the rent stays predictable for tenants. "The most affordable housing we have is the affordable housing we've already got," said Katie Maslechko, CEO of the Rental Protection Fund. "We were losing four to five affordable units for every one new unit that we were building." How it works Not-for-profits can apply to the fund for a one-time, non-repayable capital grant to help with the purchase. Once an organization has pre-qualified, Maslechko said they can start shopping. Those pursuing the acquisitions are encouraged to consider the building's capacity, scale, location and tenants, all with a goal of making sure the purchase is sustainable, she said. The grant essentially turns the building into a sort of rental time capsule — the rent for each unit stays effectively the same as it was at purchase, unless there are significant mainteance costs or other factors. Then, the increase would go no higher than a few percentage points, whatever the cap the provincial program has set for the year. It offers stability not only for the tenants living there, but also keeps rent from skyrocketing if there's turnover — unlike the private sector where there is no rent cap on apartments that become vacant. It's a different model than subsidized housing, and it can fill a gap for middle-income renters, Maslechko said. "The teachers and nurses and people that make our communities run but are so often left behind by everything else out there," she said. "They often make a little bit too much to qualify for subsidized housing. And you also see that with folks on a pension, they make just a little bit too much, even off their pension to qualify for subsidized housing programs." Last spring, the Liberal government announced the Canadian Rental Protection Fund, which would operate similarly to one in B.C. It's still in the early stages and has yet to contribute to any acquisitions. A spokesperson for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada told CBC it would be accepting applications from housing providers until the end of May. The national fund has a budget of $1.47 billion, with $470 million allotted for non-repayable grants and $1 billion in low-interest loans to "support the acquisitions of existing, privately owned, multi-unit residential buildings. WATCH | The benefit of saving existing housing instead of building new: 'The most affordable housing we have, is the affordable housing we've already got' 1 hour ago Duration 0:30 The CEO of the Rental Protection Fund says that preserving existing affordable stock is critical to the housing crisis, noting it's faster and cheaper to do that than to build new units. 'We were losing four to five affordable units for every one new unit that we were building,' Katie Maslechko said. The CEO of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, which oversees 700 not-for-profits in Ontario, estimates that such a budget could save up to 10,000 affordable units in two years. Marlene Coffey said not-for-profits who have been in this business long-term know how to preserve the existing affordable housing stock. "We know where it's being lost and we know where we would protect it," she said. "Also if we own the asset we can leverage that through financing, so it's in our interest to grow our portfolio and leverage that asset and do more, so there is a domino effect in this strategy." A big impact In 2022, not-for-profits in British Columbia bought just two per cent of multi-family homes in the province. But last year, because of the provincial fund, they bought about a third of multi-family units that came up for sale — more than a 30 per cent increase. "Not-for-profits have never really been able to compete against big corporate landlords because they simply do not have the funding," Maschleko said. "We're changing that." According to housing and policy expert Steve Pomeroy, the most recent census data had shown Canada lost more than 550,000 affordable housing units between 2011 and 2021. The units themselves are still there — they are just no longer affordable. There are varying ways to define affordability, and it also depends on perspective. Statistics Canada defines it as housing costs that take up no more than 30 per cent of a family's gross income. "The phrase affordability can be defined in many different ways — there is a wide range between someone who can afford three or four hundred dollars a month to someone who can afford three thousand a month," Pomeroy said, noting that Statistics Canada defines it as having housing costs that take up no more than 30 percent of the household's gross income. To put it in perspective, right now the national average rent for a one-bedroom unit is about $2,200 per month. So, to meet the Statistics Canada definition, he said, the household would need to make at least $88,000 a year. Working against the housing crisis? But not everyone believes that conservation is the way forward. "It sounds good on paper, but in reality is actually a terrible idea," said Andrey Pavlov, a professor in real estate finance at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. "It is better to take the money and throw it in the ocean." Instead, he said all government funding should go toward new builds, not purchasing existing buildings. WATCH | This real estate prof says Ottawa needs to build new housing, not buy old buildings: To create affordable housing, Ottawa needs to increase density, prof says 1 hour ago Duration 0:43 Real estate professor Andrey Pavlov says that any government funding earmarked for housing should go toward new builds, rather than saving existing buildings. "If you protect a building that is three storeys instead of tearing it down and building it to be 30 storeys, you are actually working against the housing crisis," Pavlov said. "We need to build a lot more. We're not keeping up with our own population growth, let alone people who want to come here." And he said the national fund will make it harder for Prime Minister Mark Carney to fulfil his promise to build 500,000 more units a year. To build that many units, you "need the land to build on in areas where people want to live," Pavlov said. "This fund is protecting small-scale buildings that in many cases could offer an opportunity to go much higher." Several buildings the B.C. fund has helped non-profits acquire have already generated criticism for preserving low density in areas that need it to be much higher. Now is better But for Maschleko the B.C. fund is one part of fixing the housing crisis — and she said it's a no-brainer. "It is much more cost-effective to maintain the affordability that already exists than to try to recreate it once it has been lost," she said. She points to the high cost of building, suggesting that the only way to keep new units affordable is for the government to keep subsidizing those tenants. "You're spending significant public money year over year to keep that affordability low versus being able to make this one-time investment," she said. Coffey also agrees it can't be the only approach, but that rental protection funds within all levels of government are necessary. In the climate of tariffs we can pick up an asset at about half the price of building something new, Coffey said. "We need a multi-pronged approach to driving solutions to this housing crisis, that is how we will get there faster." WATCH | How does B.C.'s rental protection fund work?: Renters live in fear as corporations buy up buildings 3 minutes ago Duration 11:29 As corporations continue to buy up rental units in Canada, a B.C. program is trying to keep housing affordable for tenants. CBC's Lyndsay Duncombe breaks down how the provincial rental protection fund works and the impact it's having on residents in one Burnaby building.
