April Lindgren
Canada.com
January 31, 2007

If the federal government is serious about reducing greenhouse gases, it should put money into an east-west electricity grid that will reduce reliance on coal-fired power in Ontario and spur economic development in other provinces, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said Tuesday.

"They’re talking a good game on climate change, they want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this is a great way to do it," Duncan told reporters after calling for the federal cash in a speech to power company executives from across the country. "It would allow us to get out of coal with more certainty."

Ontario’s Liberal government promised in the 2003 election to rid the province of the coal-fired electricity generation that makes up about one-third of all locally generated power. The dearth of replacement electricity, however, has delayed the initiative until at least 2014.

Noting that he has been calling for the creation of "the railway of the 21st century," Duncan said there has been lots of talk but little action.

"I am calling on the federal government to demonstrate its commitment to fighting climate change by working with us, and the other provinces, to build the transmission link that will secure our energy supply as a country, lead to the development of new clean energy projects, and bind our country as the railway did over 100 years ago," he said in his speech.

"It’s real, it’s there. It benefits Newfoundland. It benefits Quebec. It benefits Manitoba. It benefits Ontario."

Duncan said federal funding of a national grid is required because "it’s expensive and without federal participation (on) development of transmission, the economics of it are marginal."

Ontario has been negotiating with Manitoba to purchase power generated by the proposed northern Conawapa dam development. Transmitting the electricity through northern Ontario to points south where demand is the greatest, however, would cost between $700 million and $1.5 billion depending on the balance of line upgrades and new transmission line construction.

Duncan’s vision includes improved transmission links between hydro-electric projects in Labrador and the rest of Canada as well as improved connections between Manitoba’s hydro-electric resources and Alberta’s oilsands. He plans to pitch the idea once again tonight when he meets in Toronto with federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and to his Newfoundland and Manitoba counterparts in the coming weeks.

Tom Adams, executive director of the watchdog group Energy Probe, was dismissive of Duncan’s call to national action.

"It’s always been a practice by provincial governments that get into trouble to try and get the federal government to bail them out," he said. "This is just window dressing for him as he looks for a way to pay for a totally uneconomic transmission system to bring power from remote areas into Ontario."

Adams questioned the efficiency of transmitting power over long distances.

"The equipment costs a vast amount of money – we’re talking a couple million dollars per kilometre," said Adams. "Secondly, power that is carried long distances fades over the distance and third, long spindly transmission connections create a reliability risk. All of which adds up to a good reason to make your power closer to home."

Ontario’s energy crunch has eased with the addition of 3,000 megawatts of new supply over the past three years; another 10,000 megawatts are in various stages of development.

The province’s ability to live within its means will require an aggressive conservation effort as well as the construction of two new nuclear power plants.