‘It has serious consequences:' King supports phasing out Ontario gas-fired electricity

Coun. Debbie Schaefer: ‘It has serious consequences'

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 17
Laura Broadley

King Township council has made it clear that it doesn’t support Ontario’s reliance on gas-fired electricity generation from gas-fired power plants.

Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the province phase out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by 2030.

“It has serious consequences,” said Coun. Debbie Schaefer, who put forward the notice of motion.

It was a few months ago that Schaefer learned about Ontario’s plan to increase reliance on gas-fired electricity generation.

Gas plant pollution is set to increase by more than 300 per cent by 2025. If this goes forward, Ontario won’t meet its 2030 climate target, according to the Clean Air Alliance.

It was a positive direction when Ontario shut down its coal-fired electricity generation and it’s made a “huge” difference to the quality of air people are breathing, Schaefer said.

The province will be “going backwards” on the emissions that were reduced by getting rid of the coal-fired electricity generation, Schaefer said.

“Even more importantly, it’s the fact that there are alternatives that are very clean, and why aren’t we doing that? The most obvious alternatives are that Ontario really needs to have programs that incent energy conservation by businesses and homeowners,” Schaefer said.

In July 2019, Schaefer put forward a resolution to council to declare a climate emergency that was unanimously supported.

“We’re starting, as a township, to figure out what we can do corporately to reduce our emissions, but also, how we’re going to incent and encourage the community members to take action in their own personal worlds,” Schaefer said.

Schaefer said the fact that Ontario doesn’t need the gas-fired electricity plants is what makes it all the more urgent.

“The gas-fired generators create so much pollution,” she said.

Schaefer put forth the resolution also because it’s a cause that’s personal to her.

“We’re not going to deal with climate change and reduce the emissions unless individuals start taking action in their own household,” she said.

Eight years ago, Schaefer changed the heating source for her house from oil to geothermal, which requires electricity. More recently, Schaefer decided to buy an electric car.

“Having learned about the gas-fired generators, I realized that I’m not spewing emissions out my tailpipe but I’m going to be using dirty electricity or dirtier than I thought it was going to be,” she said. “That’s frustrating. I’ve put my money toward this option and it’s not going to be as valuable as it would’ve been.”

King Township is among 10 other Ontario municipalities that have also passed resolutions requesting the phase-out of Ontario’s gas plants, including Kitchener, Halton Hills, Hamilton, Burlington and Woolwich.

Schaefer said she believes that passing a resolution at the municipal level can affect the decision-making processes at the provincial level.

“I think there’s benefits and it contributes,” she said. “More importantly, I think it provides an educational opportunity for the public.”

Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, said the organization is working to persuade Ontario’s government to phase-out Ontario’s gas-fired power plants by 2030.

The organization is asking municipalities to pass resolutions requesting this phase-out to help Ontario achieve its 2030 climate target.

“Thanks to the strong leadership of King Township, and many other Ontario municipalities, we believe that we will be able to persuade Premier Ford to promise to phase out our gas-fired power plants by 2030,” he said.