The LLT RFP, as currently structured, does not protect Ontario rivers, ratepayers or taxpayers, and is not in the public interest. It creates a hydro-only energy stream, offers 40-year revenue certainty to proponents, advances long-lead water-dependent infrastructure with a 100-year lifespan, without visible integration of Ontario’s own climate science, and responds to industry pressure for greater investor protection while leaving the public to bear long-term environmental and financial risk.
Ontario does not need to sacrifice rivers to meet electricity needs. IESO’s own modelling shows that wind, solar and battery storage portfolios can meet future needs with very high reliability. The responsible course is to prioritize lower-impact, faster-deploying, scalable resources, protect existing rivers, and ensure that any long-term procurement is grounded in climate science, cumulative effects assessment, and transparent ratepayer accountability.
Ontario should not lock households, businesses, and future generations into decades of avoidable financial and environmental liability for a climate-vulnerable energy source when lower-impact, scalable, increasingly cost-effective, and climate-resilient alternatives already exist.