Toronto: A group of 19 energy organizations representing consumers, businesses, producers and distributors from across Ontario announced the formation November 16 of the Ontario Electricity Stakeholders Alliance, and released a set of policy proposals focusing on governance reform. Titled the “Power Framework,” the proposals, comprising eight recommendations, provide “the roadmap Ontario needs for smart electricity decisions that achieve the best outcomes for Ontario’s electricity consumers through the principles of transparency, competition, objectivity and independence,” the groups say.
“All three main political parties have at one point in Ontario’s history struggled tremendously with energy planning. With new technologies, electricity planning is going to become even more complex and difficult,” the announcement says. The Alliance is asking each party to commit to its Power Framework, which focuses on:
• Transparency: A plan to build confidence in an open, accountable system with an engaged Legislature and rules that respect the public’s right to be informed;
• Competition: A commitment to competitive processes, wherever feasible, that help support lower costs for both government and electricity consumers;
• Objectivity: A commitment to smart electricity decisions informed by rigorous cost-benefit analysis and objective procurement criteria that ensure Ontario ratepayers are getting the best value; and
• Independence: A process where independent agencies like the IESO, OEB and Ontario Electricity Safety Authority are appropriately resourced to make independent decisions and be held accountable by the provincial Legislature.
Ontario’s electricity sector governance and planning framework should be revised to reflect these fundamental principles, the Alliance says, to help ensure the sector’s cost effectiveness, reliability and ability to adapt.
The alliance currently includes the following members:
• Association of Power Producers of Ontario;
• Canadian Federation of Independent Business;
• Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters;
• Consumer Policy Institute;
• Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario;
• Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce;
• Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce;
• Greater Toronto Hotel Association;
• London Chamber of Commerce;
• Mississauga Board of Trade;
• Ontario Chamber of Commerce;
• Ontario Energy Association;
• Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers;
• Ontario Federation of Agriculture;
• Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association;
• Peterborough Chamber of Commerce;
• Society of Energy Professionals;
• Toronto Region Board of Trade; and
• Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.
See related story, “Governance rises to the top of the agenda,” IPPSO FACTO, November 2017.