What you should know about Ontario:
- Ontario Energy Market
- Ontario Retail Electricity & Natural Gas Companies
- Regulated Energy Market
- Understanding your Electricity Bill
- Understanding your Natural Gas Bill
Aiming to boost energy generation and consequentially offer affordable electricity for households and businesses and help the economic growth in the province, the Ontario government announced in August 2024 that is launching the largest competitive energy procurement in the province’s history – The Second Long-Term Procurement (LT2).
According to Energy Minister Stephen Lecce, Ontario will need at least 60 percent more energy by 2050. Thus, to make this happen the province plans to procure up to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of energy through a series of diverse procurements and technologies including nuclear, hydroelectric, renewables, natural gas, and biomass. Ground-mounted solar projects will be banned in prime agricultural areas, while all projects will be prohibited from being built in specialty crop zones to respect prime agricultural land.
In the long term, according to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), Ontario would be looking for 2,000 MW of renewables to go online by 2030, with subsequent procurements calling for another 1,500 MW in 2032, then 1,500 MW more in 2034. The procurement also builds on the government’s recent procurement of nearly 3,000 MW of new battery storage projects ranging from five to over 400 MW in capacity.
How the procurement will happen is still to be determined, however, to advance Ontario’s expanded electricity needs, the IESO, according to the governmental website, plans to conclude energy and capacity procurements (and its details) by February 28, 2026. The accelerated timelines will ensure that Ontario can continue to support large-scale investments that require a clean and reliable energy supply to create well-paying jobs across the province.
The project also highlights the importance of partnering with Indigenous communities to make the necessary energy infrastructure investments and transition from conventional to clean energy considering that over 450 renewable energy projects across Ontario are either owned or partnered with Indigenous communities.
Projects to meet growing energy demand in Ontario
Here are some current or near-future initiatives which are expected to improve the energy supply and rates across the province:
- Nuclear Energy – Advancing clean, reliable, and affordable nuclear power through the largest pre-development work at Bruce Power in 30 years, four small modular reactors at Darlington and supporting Ontario Power Generation’s plan for refurbishing the Pickering Nuclear Generation Station
- New Transmission Infrastructure – Designating and prioritizing transmission lines in Southwestern, Northeastern and Eastern Ontario that will power job creators, including EV and EV battery manufacturing and clean steel production.
- Keeping Costs Down – Launching new energy efficiency programs on January 1, 2025, and building on the government’s $342 million expansion of existing energy efficiency programs which are helping families and businesses reduce their electricity usage and save money on their energy bills.
- Additional Competitive Procurements – Successfully re-contracting existing capacity resources at about a 30 percent discount and plans for additional competitive procurements to re-secure both existing capacity and energy resources.
