Ontario to procure 5,000 MW of energy to meet future demand

Ontario will be soliciting bids for new energy projects with the goal of adding some 5,000 megawatts to the electricity grid to meet demand in the coming decades, new Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said Wednesday.

Lecce says the government is "energy agnostic" and the new procurement will be a mix of natural gas, hydroelectric, renewables, nuclear and biomass. The minister said the procurement will be necessary for the future of the province.

"We will need at least 60 per cent more energy by 2050. The province needs more energy to grow our economy," Lecce said at the announcement in King City, Ont.

Lecce said Ontario needs more energy to keep up with population growth, and to power electrification of industry and the rise of artificial intelligence, which requires massive amounts of electricity. The province's electricity demand is expected to grow by about two per cent each year, but could be even higher depending on electrification within the broader economy.

To put the 5,000 megawatt figure in perspective, the refurbished Pickering nuclear plant is expected to produce 2,000 megawatts — or roughly enough to power two million homes.

How the procurement will happen is still to be determined. The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) — a Crown corporation responsible for operating Ontario's electricity market — will develop a framework for the process by Sept. 20, according to a news release. Under that framework, the procurements should conclude by Feb. 28, 2026. 

The IESO has said the province will need at least 60 per cent more energy by 2050.

Restrictions on farmland, more local consultation

The province is making efforts to protect key agricultural areas throughout the process, the minister said. 

Ground-mounted solar panels will be prohibited on prime agricultural farmland, said Lecce, who pledged the province would "never misuse" those lands.

"Our farmers need more energy more than ever," Lecce said.

"They need access to to affordable energy and so we made a commitment to work with them on a policy that ultimately will respect prime agricultural land."

Other energy products being considered on prime agricultural land will now require an impact assessment before proceeding. 

The province is also giving power to municipalities to decide if they want a particular energy project.

"Long gone are the days where Queen's Park imposes projects on unwilling communities, undermining those agricultural areas," Lecce said.

The news is welcome to farmers, said Drew Spoelstra, the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

"The new energy procurement framework is a major step forward for Ontario," he said. 

"Reliable and affordable energy is incredibly important to the growth of the Ontario economy, including food production, food processing and the agri-food sector."

Farmers and Premier Doug Ford's government have had an up-and-down relationship in recent years in light of the Greenbelt scandal. 

The province had said they were going to build 50,000 homes on the protected Greenbelt, which includes prime agricultural land. But several investigations by provincial bodies found the process was flawed as it favoured some developers with ties to the government over others.

Farmers did not like the possible encroachment onto farmland and joined the chorus to denounce the Greenbelt move. Last summer, amid mounting public pressure to reverse course, Ford walked back those Greenbelt plans.

Province looking at variety of energy sources

According to the release, the province will be looking at a variety of energy sources during procurement, including wind and solar. 

In 2019, Premier Doug Ford defended his party's decision to tear up hundreds of renewable energy deals, a move that his government has acknowledged cost taxpayers more than $230 million.

"If we had the chance to get rid of all the wind mills, we would," Ford said at the time.

But more recently, the Ford government has taken a U-turn on renewable energy, and is now poised to oversee the biggest expansion of green energy the province has seen in nearly a decade.  

Ontario has also recently been adding electricity storage projects, with an eye to about 2,500 megawatts, and the IESO said the province's emerging battery fleet will pair well with wind and solar, so that the power generated by those methods can be stored and injected into the grid when needed.

In response to Wednesday's announcement, Mike Schreiner, leader of the Ontario Green Party, said in a statement that renewables are the cheaper and cleaner option for expanding energy production in Ontario.

"While I'm glad to see that the Ford government has finally reversed its archaic, ideological anti-renewables stance, it has a lot further to go if it wants to undo the years of damage its fossil gas obsession has caused," he said.