Gas consumers will not benefit from Doug Ford’s ‘Keeping Energy Costs Down Act.’ Enbridge Gas and subdivision developers will.
A News Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance – a citizen’s advocate for a healthier environment
Posted May 16th, 2024 on Niagara At Large
This May 15th, 2024, the Ford Government passed its Protecting Enbridge Gas Profits Act. Sorry, in official government doublespeak, that’s the Keeping Energy Costs Down Act aka Bill 165.
Of course, in stark contrast to its name, this new law will raise energy costs by ensuring that all gas consumers will pay for expanding the Enbridge Gas distribution system. Reinstating this subsidy for new methane gas hookups for developers will cost over $1 billion over the next 4 years alone.
Bill 165 is the government’s response to a carefully considered Ontario Energy Board (OEB) decision [https://thenarwhal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20231221-ONTARIO-OEB-Enbridge.pdf] that it was time to wean Enbridge and major land developers off of subsidies for expanding fossil gas distribution systems.
This new law raises many concerns, the most major being:
- It demonstrates that the Ford government simply does not take climate change seriously. That this government believes we will still be using gas to heat our homes 30 or 40 years from now speaks volumes about its head-in-the-sand approach to both the growing impacts of climate change (such as wildfires out west [https://www.theenergymix.com/last-stand-fort-nelson-b-c-faces-extreme-wildfire-behaviour-despite-seasons-slower-start/]) and on where the rest of the world [https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2024/#executive-summary] is headed.
- It is a slap in the face to the OEB – an independent, consumer protection agency. The OEB is not exactly a hotbed of environmental activism, but it wisely decided that it was in the best interest of gas consumers to recognize that climate action will inevitably result in a shift away from fossil fuels – and that sticking with the status quo will leave us with expensive empty pipes.
The bottom line: gas consumers will not benefit from this Act – Enbridge Gas and subdivision developers will.
Heat pumps are a smarter, cleaner, and lower cost way to heat and cool homes than gas. Close to 1 million heat pumps have already been installed in Canadian homes.
Learn more about the benefits of and incentives for heat pumps here [https://www.cleanairalliance.org/heat-pumps-can-save-you-money/].
Angela Bischoff, Director, Ontario Clean Air Alliance
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