Ontarians strongly support making a deal with Quebec

From the Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Ontarians overwhelmingly support importing low-cost water power from Quebec. In fact, a large majority would prefer to import water power rather than re-build the Darlington Nuclear Station, even if power from Quebec costs the same as power from those re-built reactors!

These are the key finding of a new Oraclepoll Research opinion poll. The poll found that close to 80% of Ontarians are in favour of tapping into Quebec power imports.

This strong thumbs up for renewable and clean water power is not surprising when you look at the facts. Over the past ten years, electricity generated by nuclear plants in Ontario has increased by 44%. Over the same period, wholesale electricity prices have risen by 50% (see our new factsheet Nuclear power production up, electricity prices up) . Ontarians increasingly understand that, despite the rhetoric from nuclear companies, nuclear energy is raising our electricity bills.

Now the Ontario government wants to spend tens of billions of dollars re-building the Darlington Nuclear Station despite the fact that no nuclear project has ever been finished on time or on budget in Ontario; and despite the fact that Quebec’s average export price in 2012 (4.1 cents per kWh) was less than half of Ontario Power Generation’s best-case estimate of the cost of re-building Darlington (8.3 cents per kWh).

Clearly, the people of Ontario are ready for a more sensible solution. It’s time to make a long-term deal with Quebec for low-cost water power instead of re-building Darlington.

The poll surveyed 1,000 Ontario residents between March 21st and March 30th and has a margin of error of 3.1%. You can see the full results on our website.