Is Ontario on track to kick coal dependency in 2014?

ENVIRONMENT

Is Ontario on track to kick coal dependency in 2014?

New natural-gas capacity and wind farms will help province meet its goal of closing older plants, electricity supply agency says

MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER

December 29, 2008

Ontario is "well positioned" to phase out the use of coal for making electricity by the end of 2014 because replacement generating capacity is either already online or under development, says the agency responsible for the province's electricity supply.

The agency, known as the Independent Electricity System Operator, says Ontario will be able to keep to its self-imposed deadline to end the use of coal at power plants because of a surge in the number of new generating stations that run on natural gas. The province is also able to meet a growing amount of its electricity needs from wind farms.

Ontario's coal phase-out is the most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction program under way in North America and when fully implemented will be the equivalent of taking almost seven million cars off the roads, according to the IESO.

The coal shutdown has been adopted as a policy by the governing Liberals, but similar proposals have been put forward by the opposition parties.

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