Moratorium on procurement of new natural gas generation and procurement of DERs.

• Stop procurement of new natural gas generation, including under the open LT1 RFP.
• Launch a new procurement stream beginning in 2024 targeting low-cost, non-emitting supply, including wind and solar, with annual RFPs to provide industry certainty.
• Direct the IESO to target all cost-effective conservation and demand management in the post-2024 CDM framework.
• Incentivise renewable energy development by confronting development by-passes
  • Eliminate the offshore wind moratorium
  • Extend Community Net Metering province-wide
  • Increase the threshold for microgeneration

Increased or continued reliance on natural gas for electricity generation will increase emissions, air pollution, and accompanying health issues. This risks leaving stranded assets to future generations when gas plants won’t be permitted to operate.

Instead, investing in clean energy, storage, and efficiency would maintain Ontario’s clean grid advantage, attracting investment from companies who need to meet their ESG requirements.

A fair, affordable, modern electricity system would generate local economic activity and keep benefits in the community.

Update the Ontario Building Code

The Ontario Building Code should be updated to include:

• Alignment with Tier 2 of the 2020 National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings and Tier 4 of the National Building Code
• Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) for new construction that goes beyond code requirements
• EV readiness requirements
• A schedule for updating to the highest tiers of the national codes to provide regulatory certainty for industry.

Requiring high efficiency new home construction will reduce the impact of population growth on services and the environment.

Efficient homes also reduce home energy bills, create efficiencies for municipalities with tight budgets, while promoting jobs in the trades.

We have the technologies and know-how, the incremental costs are not high, and the lifetime ownership costs are lower.

Develop and implement an electric vehicle strategy

Ontario should have an EV strategy, including:

• A comprehensive provincial charging plan and funding program, including incentives to support comprehensive EV-readiness in existing multi-family buildings.
• Purchase incentives for new and used EVs for low- and modest-income households.
• Tax credits or rebates for the purchase of MHDV charging infrastructure and vehicles.
• Initiatives to mitigate EV load growth through smart charging and “Vehicle-to-Everything” (V2X)

An EV strategy to expand access and affordability signals to consumers that infrastructure like charging stations is coming.

An effective strategy would increase EV affordability for lower income households, and increased charging would be a grid responsive asset.

Over the last couple of years, Ontario has spent billions of dollars in incentives to attract EV manufacturing plants. By committing a small fraction of that amount to support local EV adoption, the government can ensure that more of the EVs produced in Ontario are actually purchased by residents.