Antonella Artuso
Toronto Sun
June 13, 2006

Premier Dalton McGuinty says he’s prepared to be judged by voters as his government gets set to announce controversial new nuclear power projects.

"I look forward to being judged on that," McGuinty said yesterday.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan will formally respond to the Ontario Power Authority’s energy supply report today, explaining how the province will meet its electricity needs over the next two decades.

The report, released in December, calls for $72 billion to be spent on new electricity generation, including up to $40 million for nuclear power, to avoid shortages by 2013.

McGuinty would not provide details but has essentially acknowledged that new nuclear power will be part of the solution.

"We’ll look to solar, we’ll look to conservation, we’ll look to whatever sources of renewables we can, but at the end of the day, that is not enough," McGuinty said.

"And if we’re going to be responsible about this, if we’re going to ensure that the international investment community understands that we will in fact (have a) reliable source of electricity, we’ve got to take these things on. And our government will do that."

Tom Adams of Energy Probe said a new nuclear plant at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington remains the most viable option.

The Bruce nuclear power plant site may also be named but there are transmission concerns, he said. It’s also possible that Duncan could float the old Ontario Hydro Blind River option.

The solution that is aggressively being pursued in competitive electricity markets – so-called clean coal – is not on the table in Ontario.

Six environmental groups lined up yesterday behind a plan that would see coal and nuclear power phased out in favour of more conservation and renewables.

Shawn-Patrick Stensil of Greenpeace said nuclear power has proven unreliable and overpriced, and any attempt to build a new nuke plant in Ontario will be fought all the way.

"It might be trench warfare for 10 years, but we’re prepared to do that," Stensil said.