Response to “Wind Energy is a Better Deal for Ontario than New Nuclear”
January 7, 2013
Article by Chris Forrest, The Hamilton Spectator
January 4, 2013
January 7, 2013
Editor
The Hamilton Spectator
44 Frid Street
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N 3G3
Dear Editor,
Chris Forrest’s attack on nuclear (“Wind Energy is a Better Deal for Ontario than New Nuclear,” Jan 4) is unnecessary and non-factual.
It’s unnecessary because Ontarians aren’t called upon to choose one energy source over another. We use many diverse energy sources that support and complement each other.
It’s non-factual because Forrest says that “pricing on nuclear is very hard to find” but in the same breath that “it is broadly understood that electricity from new nuclear generation will be significantly more expensive” than the rate he claims for new wind.
If the data is so hard to find that he doesn’t cite any, what’s the basis for this alleged “broad understanding?” Nuclear helped to build the affordable business environment that made Ontario so prosperous over the past half-century.
The 2011 Ontario Auditor General’s Report remarked that “Billions of dollars were committed to renewable energy without fully evaluating the impact, the trade-offs, and the alternatives through a comprehensive business-case analysis” (page 97). The report also cited Ministry of Energy and Ontario Energy Board projections that residential electricity bills will increase by 7.9% annually over the next five years primarily due to investments in renewable energy (page 89), resulting in a $570 increase in annual household electricity bills between 2009 and 2014 (page 95).
Nuclear power generation currently sells on average at around $.06 per kWh. By providing this stable, affordable base, nuclear enables the grid to diversify into new sources like wind.
Advocates for wind energy are welcome to make their case without attacking other, good and proven options.
John Stewart
Director of Policy and Research
