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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-009-13 Cladiwit REPORT CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Date: September 9, 2013 Resolution #: By-law#: Report#: CAO-009-13 File #: Subject: MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON'S COMMENTS ON THE REVIEW OF ONTARIO'S LONG TERM ENERGY PLAN (LTEP) RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended to the General Purpose and Administration Committee: 1. THAT the submission as set out in Report CAO-009-13 be approved as the Municipality's comments on the review of Ontario's long term energy plan. Submitted by: - Franklin Wu, Chief Administrative Officer CC:FW CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 REPORT NO.: CAO-009-13 PAGE 2 1. PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to set out the Municipality's comments on the review of Ontario's long term energy plan. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 The Province is receiving comments until September 16th on the review of the 2010 Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP). It has issued a 32 page Discussion Guide titled "Making Choices" to enable a discussion to determine what updates should be made to the plan including the role of nuclear energy. 2.2 The review of the 2010 plan is in large part prompted by the fact that overall energy demand is lower than forecasted in 2010. This is because the economy has not recovered to the extent forecasted, major energy users experienced business challenges and conservation increased. Peak demand by 2030 is now forecasted at about 30,000 MW, down from 2010 forecast of about 33,000 MW, although a "low growth" scenario could see this as low as 22,000 MW which is lower than actual demand today. 2.3 The Municipality therefore needs to make a convincing case that the 2010 Plan - which envisioned the Darlington refurbishment and New Build proceeding - should be implemented. 2.4 With the Clarington Board of Trade, staff has studied the experts' review of the supply and demand scenarios, attending a number of technical briefings sponsored by the ministry and the OPA. Listening to these officials and discussing with them has helped to build the Municipality's understanding of how the government is viewing this complex subject, what is important to them and how to frame the Municipality's submission effectively. We then meet with experts in the nuclear industry and distilled their many contributions to bring forward what it we have learned to be the relevant facts and arguments in a language that will be effective in this particular context. 2.5 We also helped co-host a meeting of the Nuclear Technology Mayors' Council, co-chaired by Mayor Foster with Oakville Mayor Rob Burton to learn more about the perspectives of leaders of communities in the nuclear supply chain. 2.6 The Municipality also needs to build an effective relationship with this particular ministry as its decisions have significant impacts on the community. It has started that with two meetings with senior staff of the Ministry and the Minister's staff. At the AMO conference, this included a meeting with the Minister himself. REPORT NO.: CAO-009-13 PAGE 3 This meeting included the Mayor and Councillors Hooper, Novak, Partner and Woo. This too has assisted with understanding how the ministry views the issues and how the Municipality can best assist the ministry to arrive at a mutually beneficial decision. 3. CONCLUSION The attached submission seeks to put forward Clarington's position on matters that are important to the Municipality and relevant to the Ministry. The deadline for submissions is September 16th, and Council does not meet again until the evening of the 16th thus GPA is asked to accept this report as Council's position. CONFORMITY WITH STRATEGIC PLAN — The recommendations contained in this report conform to the following priorities of the Strategic Plan: X Promoting economic development Maintaining financial stability Connecting Clarington Promoting green initiatives Investing in infrastructure X Showcasing our community Not in conformity with Strategic Plan Staff Contact: Curry Clifford, MPA, CMO, Corporate Initiatives Officer Attachment: Municipality of Clarington comments on the review of Ontario's long-term energy plan ATTACHMENT NO.1 TO REPORT CAO-009-13 September 2013 Julie Green Senior Policy Advisor Ministry of Energy Municipality of Clarington's comments on the review of Ontario's Long Term Energy Plan- EBR Registry number 011-9490 Dear Ms. Green: Please accept this as the Municipality of Clarington's comments on the review of Ontario's Long Term Energy Plan- EBR Registry number 011-9490. This submission has been endorsed by our Council. Please note that a parallel submission will follow from the Clarington Board of Trade (CBOT). Listening This submission has the advantage of being informed by two recent meetings afforded Clarington's elected and appointed officials with the Minister, his staff and Ministry staff. We are grateful for the time provided Clarington for discussing the Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP) and its importance to our community and our Province. We hope that is the start of a productive relationship between the ministry and the municipality. We also much appreciate the ministry's willingness to agree to Mayor Foster's request to add a meeting in our area to the province-wide consultation on the LTEP. This September 12th meeting affords an accessible opportunity for our residents, businesses and institutions to be heard. Conservation At the outset, we want to note our strong endorsement for the statement in the LTEP discussion paper Making Choices that "the government is putting conservation first in our planning". We couldn't agree more. Clarington's Council in the last year agreed to: invest $480,000 in energy conservation retrofits of our own facilities that will return our investment within five years; encouraging energy conservation in new residential construction in an innovative pilot study funded by the MOE and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; formed the Sustainable Clarington Community Advisory Committee. Ministry setting the record straight on nuclear Second, Clarington wants to make clear that we appreciate the ministry helping to set the record -1- straight about the benefits of nuclear by leading your section on Nuclear in Making Choices with the statement: "Because of its reliability, safety and zero GHG emissions, the government is committed to ensuring that nuclear energy provides a significant portion of Ontario's electricity generation." Answering your questions Third, we wish to answer the questions you've posed about nuclear"Nuclear power provides over half of Ontario's generation. What are your views on refurbishing existing nuclear units? How should we proceed with nuclear new build?" Clarington shares the views of others who have looked closely at the demand and supply scenarios and concluded that the plans for nuclear refurbishments and nuclear replacement build in the 2010 Long Term Energy Plan were well founded and should continue to be implemented. Please note, we suggest that it is more accurate to refer to "new build" as "replacement build" as the proposal to build two reactors at Darlington would replace the supply provided by Pickering Nuclear Station that is being decommissioned in the not too distant future. The ministry has the benefit of witnessing what can happen when demand for public infrastructure is underestimated or decisions put off, whether it is in power supply in other jurisdictions, e.g., California, or in other public infrastructure in Ontario. As community leaders and infrastructure planners, we've learned that best value comes from taking an investment and longer-term perspective when making choices for future generations. We would urge that here. Now. Importance of Nuclear to Clarington and Ontario Fourth, it is critical that government know that the LTEP and the prominent role that nuclear energy needs to play in it are very important to our community. And they are each very important to Ontario's success. You will hear this from a diverse range of people, including: • mayors representing communities across Ontario who have come together to create the Nuclear Technology Mayors' Council under the co-chairmanship of Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton • women who have brought their talent, care and dedication to the nuclear industry and are represented through the organization Women in Nuclear • academic institutions that are working with the nuclear industry to create well trained professionals and continue Ontario's international leadership in this vital field • large energy consumers - and job creators - represented by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters • the nuclear industry, represented by the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCI) as well as by the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA). The Nuclear Advantage From these many different interests the Ministry will have heard that nuclear is the cheaper, cleaner,jobs creating choice for Ontario. The OCI put numbers to this: "Continued investment in base-load nuclear generation will result in the best outcome for Ontario's economy (up to 20% lower electricity prices, 100,000 more jobs and $60B economic benefit) and the environment (100,000 MT less GHG emissions). -2- The detailed studies on these subjects are convincing and we encourage all who care about Ontario's future to review and discuss these by contacting these organizations. Community Support in Clarington for Nuclear What the ministry may not hear as much about from these organizations is the depth and breadth of community support here in Clarington for nuclear. It is part of the fabric of our community. It has been for more than a generation —the atomic energy sign is in fact in our Coat of Arms. Successive municipal councils have supported nuclear to our community and before federal and provincial regulatory bodies. There are well established, effective mechanisms in place to resolve any issues including the Darlington Community Advisory Committee and the Durham Nuclear Health Committee. In fact Mayor Foster has been asked to advise other municipalities on how to develop effective community engagement on nuclear projects. And in another part of our municipality - Port Granby -we are involved with the federal government in supporting a low level nuclear waste project. There is a very strong and productive relationship between our Municipality and the OPG in all aspects of municipal administration -financial, planning, service delivery, e.g., joint fire services and emergency preparedness training. We've taken that experience into our leadership in the Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities and in the Nuclear Technology Mayors' Council. And the Clarington Board of Trade (CBOT) is actively involved with CNSC hearings, CNA, the Darlington Community Advisory Committee and the nuclear supply chain to support industry. The CBOT hosts an annual Energy Summit each fall to educate and foster collaboration with the nuclear industry and have invited the Minister and Ministry to participate on November 7th The University of Ontario'Institute Technology (UOIT) and Durham College have developed educational programs directly related to nuclear and energy systems. We are also working to build an understanding of the significant opportunities to optimize the OPG Training Centre to showcase and train the world. Summary and Conclusion The dialogue to date with the ministry is appreciated and helps to builds a strong future for Clarington and Ontario. It has assisted us to see the alignment of our shared interests around conservation and the benefits of nuclear. And it has helped us to better understand the supply and demand scenarios, confirming for us that the plans for nuclear refurbishments and nuclear replacement build in the 2010 Long Term Energy Plan were well founded and should continue to be implemented. We owe it to future generations to take this long-term perspective. Dialogue with a wide range of people makes clear that nuclear is the cheaper, cleaner, jobs creating choice for Ontario. Clarington is the place where this choice can be optimized. There is wide and deep community support for nuclear. It is woven into the fabric of our community. This contrasts sharply with what the government has experienced in many parts of Ontario with other energy supply choices. Clarington and Ontario would be well served by sticking with the 2010 plans for nuclear at Darlington. -3-