How Much Will Darlington’s New Nuclear Reactors Cost?
A News Release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, a non-profit citizens group dedicated to fighting for cleaner, more affordable ways of protecting our environment.
Posted November 21st, 2024 on Niagara At Large
Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems to have no problem spending our tax money as if there was an endless supply.
A Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper – Funny things when politicians are spending someone else’s money – meaning ours. Many of them, to use that old cliché, have a habit of spending it like drunken sailors.
One of the interesting things that too many voters either don’t seem to be aware of or don’t care to give enough consideration to is that politicians on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border who are on the conservative side of the ledger and who parade themselves as being better financial managers, have a long record of spending us into as much debt and often even more than their liberal counterparts.
That brings me to the Ford government in Ontario that, as of last year, has racked the net debt fof the province up to a stunning amount of more than $400 billion. – leaving even the highly conservative Canadian think tank, The Fraser Institute, calling Ford’s spending habits so “irresponsible,” that if they continue, they will leave Ontario residents facing some of the highest income tax rates in North America.
The Garden City Skyway crossing the Welland Canal in St. Catharines. Apparently there is no end to the money Ford is willing to spend to twin this to accommodate ever more trucks and cars.
Apparently Ford and company did not get that memo because here they keep going, planning to spend countless billions more of our tax dollars expanding a nuclear power plant, and billions more on new highways and on announced plans to twin the Garden City Skyway running over the Welland Canal in St. Catharines.
And let’s not forget Ford’s expressed desire to build a tunnel for accommodating ever more cars and trucks under a stretch of Highway 401, a project of the kind that almost bankrupted the otherwise gilded City of Boston, Massachusetts not all that long ago.
Imagine how much better off communities across Ontario would be, both economically and environmentally, if Ford dropped these bank-busting schemes and instead invested even a fraction of that money on renewable sources of energy like solar and wind and on carbon-free heat pump for heating and cooling homes and other buildings, and on public transit, bike lanes and other cleaner and more affordable ways for people to move around.
But that seems to be too difficult for a mind like Doug Ford’s – still spinning its wheels in the mid-1900s, like a Mac truck stuck in mud – to grasp.
I have said it before and I will say it again. The very next chance we have to go to the polls in Ontario, we have got to use it to fire this Ford bunch out of office.
Now here is the news release from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance on the lack of transparency around how much it would cost to expand the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant –
Doug Ford’s Government is planning to build 4 NEW nuclear reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Station, but Energy Minister Lecce won’t reveal how much these reactors will cost.
1. There is an urgent need for transparency.
2. Likely Costs: Based on recent U.S. nuclear project costs [https://www.cleanairalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Notes-2.pdf], the new Darlington reactors could cost around $26 billion.
3. Renewables are cheaper – Nuclear is EXPENSIVE: Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) estimates [https://www.cleanairalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ieso-wind-solar.pdf] that new nuclear power will cost Ontarians 2 – 3 times more than new wind & solar power.
4. Storage: Ontario has many options for storing wind & solar energy, including stationary batteries, EV batteries, & coordination with Quebec’s massive hydro reservoirs, which can act like a giant battery. This means renewables can meet our energy needs even when it isn’t windy or sunny.
5. Nuclear is TOO SLOW to address the climate crisis: The proposed new nuclear project for Darlington won’t be completed until 2036 – or later. New solar and wind projects can be completed in 12 months (or less).
6. Nuclear is not where the world is headed: No new commercial nuclear reactors are under construction in the U.S [https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61963]. Last year, 85% of the world’s new electricity supply was renewable [https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/chart-85-of-new-electricity-built-in-2023-was-clean-energy]. Ontario is falling behind.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please sign our letter asking Minister Lecce [https://www.cleanairalliance.org/answers/] to tell us how much Darlington’s new nuclear reactors will cost. Will they cost us $26 B?
Send your letter here [https://www.cleanairalliance.org/answers/]
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Thank you. Angela Bischoff, Director, Ontario Clean Air Alliance
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA), established in 1997, successfully led the campaign to phase out the use of dirty coal power in Ontario. We are now working to move our province to a 100% renewable electricity system. This includes replacing our high-emission gas power plants and high-cost nuclear power stations with a combination of conservation, made-in-Ontario wind and solar power, and water power imports and storage from Quebec. Together these would lower our electricity bills and greenhouse gas pollution. For more info click on : CleanAirAlliance.org OntarioClimateAction.ca
To read a Fraser Institute report critical of the Ontario Ford government’s spending habits, click on the following link – Ford government continues irresponsible fiscal management in Ontario | Fraser Institute
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