Energy Shortage Coming to Ontario by 2023

Published on November 30, -0001

Bloomberg Environment has reported that in 5 years, Ontario will not have enough electricity to meet demand. This is leading Ontario to consider increasing its energy imports from the United States and Quebec, as well as looking into improving management of provincial nuclear facilities, and constructing new power plants to meet energy demands.

According to the Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) - the provincial agency responsible for managing Ontario’s power grid, in the summer of 2023 Ontario will have electricity demands that exceed generation by an amount of 1400 megawatts.

Chuck Farmer, representative of IESO, has assured that the IESO is enacting process to make sure energy generation in Ontario will meet demand.

In 2025, the expected gap between electricity demand and generation is expected to climb to 3700 megawatts. A key proponent in this energy generation deficit is the coming closure of the Pickering nuclear power plant - set to happen between 2022 and 2024.

Farmer notes that the energy shortage is slightly larger than when the IESO last evaluated it in 2016. A small part of this increase may be due to the Provincial Government’s decision to cancel 758 renewable resource contracts, according to Farmer.

Vince Brescia, CEO and president of the Ontario Energy Association, has said that this energy shortfall shouldn’t prevent the IESO from releasing their new kind of auction for electricity providers that they have been planning.

Brescia also warns that the competitiveness of the Ontario energy market would be negatively impacted if there is a one-off deal with Quebec to increase energy imports.

“Sometimes short-term band-aid approaches can turn into the long-term approach, which would be moving away from an open and competitive process” he said.

As it typically takes 6 years to take an energy project from “conception to completion,” Brescia also said that electricity companies need to know what Ontario’s plan regarding the energy shortage is soon, so that they can begin to take action accordingly.

The IESO is considering a few options to handle the gap between electricity demand and generation, including: importing energy in both an ad hoc and firm contract basis, renewing contracts of existing power plants that are set to expire, as well as re-examining the management of electricity generation in the Bruce and Darlington nuclear power plants.

Reducing Your Own Energy Consumption

An effective way for Canadians to lower their energy consumption and carbon footprint is to improve the efficiency of their own home. This not only improves comfort levels by creating a more uniform temperature throughout the building and removing unwanted drafts, it can also lower energy use and utility bills significantly; helping to lower the energy deficit in the coming energy shortage.

Trying to figure out what energy saving modifications, renovations, or retrofits are the most cost-effective for your home can be a bit tricky, but with the help of our Registered Energy Advisors and a Home Energy Assessment, you can have a clear picture of exactly which solutions are the best for you to take - ranked in order of cost-effectiveness.