Ford's nuclear obsession is robbing Ontario of its true clean energy future

Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford just can’t seem to shake his aversion to renewables. 

Ford’s new Energy for Generations plan, mapping out energy generation from now to 2050, is laudable for its end goal: to all but end Ontario’s reliance on gas for electricity generation. But its single-minded pursuit of new nuclear power projects is myopic when it comes to solar and wind, the gold standard sources of clean energy.

Ontario is seriously eyeing sites for three even bigger nuclear plants than it already has — “the equivalent of adding about five Darlington Nuclear Generating Stations to the grid,” the report states — with the possibility of even more of them down the road. 

As for solar and wind, the plan calls for a modest increase of slightly more than double the small amounts produced now which comprise 11 per cent of Ontario’s power supply. And the clincher: solar and wind will get a boost while nuclear plants are being scaled up, but only for a short while.

Once new nuclear plants are up and running, Ontario actually plans to dial back progress on renewables. It sounds like the province plans to tear down solar installations and wind farms and haul the pieces off to metal recyclers and landfills. And why? On those questions, the plan is silent. 

The only hint is a bullseye graphic comparing the amount of land needed for a new nuclear plant compared to the much greater amounts needed to generate the same amount of power from solar or wind. As might be expected from a plan that reads like a pro-nuclear manifesto, there isn’t a single mention of the radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plants and the still-unsolved challenges associated with its disposal.

Like his Alberta counterpart, Premier Danielle Smith, Ford seems almost pathologically opposed to solar and wind energy. From the moment he was elected, Ford made it clear he was not interested in clean technology of any description; he cancelled 750 renewable energy projects, slowed the buildout of electric vehicle charging stations, ended the provincial EV rebate, repeatedly lowered gas taxes and has sided with Enbridge, Ontario’s natural gas provider, at every turn.

He’s budged on EV charging stations recently, probably because failing to build at least some would be a bad look for a province trying to capture EV and battery manufacturing industries. And last year, when it became clear Ontario needed  more energy to meet skyrocketing demand, the Ontario government finally opened the door to more solar and wind. Judging by his past record, I would bet that wasn’t Ford’s idea. 

I am not among those opposed to adding more nuclear power to Canada’s energy mix. Nuclear power is expensive to build – more than $6 billion for a small modular reactor (SMR) and north of that for a larger one. However, once running, nuclear reactors provide enormous quantities of power. Just one proposed plant at Ontario Power Generation’s Port Hope (Wesleyville) site could provide enough carbon pollution-free electricity to power 10 million homes. Ontario will need that power as AI booms, transportation and industry electrify and the population continues to grow.

Burgeoning electricity demands have sparked similar interest in nuclear power worldwide, the International Energy Agency reports. Even some countries that abandoned nuclear energy because of concerns about cost overruns and waste disposal are eyeing new projects, particularly SMRs. The British government is investing US$19 billion in a new nuclear plant and Denmark is contemplating ending its 40-year moratorium.

There is a role for more nuclear power in Ontario, and given the long runway, it probably makes sense to start at least one plant now. But given the waste problem, it seems to me the logical approach for Ontario would be to build as much solar and wind as it can, and as few nuclear plants as possible. Canada should look to China, where massive investment in clean power caused carbon emissions to drop last year, and build as much wind and solar as it can, in short order. 

Arguments against solar and wind focus on reliability; they only produce power when the sun shines and wind blows. But other countries have been quicker to recognize battery storage is well on the way to taking care of the capricious nature of renewables. And a number of wealthy EU countries are already producing sizeable proportions of their power with wind and solar — Denmark is at 61 per cent and Ireland and Spain are at the one-third mark.

So why do leaders like Ford and Smith suffer from such obvious failure of imagination? For Smith, it’s obvious — she makes no secret of her fealty to Alberta’s oil and gas industry. But Ford’s reluctance to embrace clean tech may boil down to the man himself. He self-promotes as an old-school kind of guy. Does he simply like the rumble of a gas-powered engine? Could he see himself on an e-bike? Can he ever trust sources of energy that depend on the sun and wind? 

There might be other forces at play causing Ford to favour Big Nuclear over solar and wind. Ford’s government has always been open-minded, shall we say, to the siren songs of business lobbyists, and the nuclear industry is currently in high gear. It could be Ford can only get excited about energy megaprojects with their jobs and potential for federal backing, regardless of the risk and cost.