A motion to support gas-fired power plants until clean energy sources can replace them without increasing the price of electricity led to an explosive debate in Halton Hills Council Chambers Monday evening.
Following the heated discussion, the contentious resolution ultimately passed with an addition by Councillor Jane Fogal that says council will also continue to "urge the provincial government to support the development of clean energy alternatives and energy efficiency.”
The original resolution, put forth by Councillor Moya Johnson and seconded by Councillor Clark Somerville, cites the Independent Electricity System Operators' (IESO) October 2020 report titled Decarbonization and Ontario’s Electrical Grid as its justification. The report suggested there's no viable like-for-like energy source, that there will be blackouts and installing new sources would cost $27 billion.
The decision was additionally complicated by a resolution passed by council two years ago that asked the Province of Ontario to “reverse its plan to increase power production at its gas-fired power plants and instead reintroduce programs to incentivize energy retrofit programs.”
Several delegations came in to provide their take on the motion. Speakers from Environmental Defense, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Clean Air Partnership and Atura Power, which has a plant in Halton Hills, all spoke. But the debate around the motion stole the show.
“What if Ontario did anything besides sitting on their fat bottoms?” said Councillor Jane Fogal, who was against the initial motion. “This resolution says Halton Hills is completely fine with the provincial leaders sitting back and doing nothing [to encourage green energy].” It does not promote the development of green energy."
Councillor Ann Lawlor joined Fogal in her criticism of the motion.
“I worry about this resolution because I think that it potentially sends a very mixed message to the residents of Halton Hills about what this council believes in,” she said.
She moved to defer the motion, initially asking for a study from staff on the matter. But Town CAO Chris Mills advised against such a report because “we don’t have the expertise to review the Ontario power plan.” He felt that such an effort would also take staff away from the Town’s own climate change strategy implementation.
Fogal supported the deferral because she felt council was making a decision “based on incomplete information and I would say fear-mongering” regarding clean energy.
"A deferral at least moves it out so that we can individually look into this," she noted.
Councillor Bryan Lewis shot back at the pair.
“I love the terminology, fear-mongering, amongst us. The master of fear-mongering has made that comment,” Lewis said. “I’m having a tough time understanding how the delegations had not been brought on board by the fear-mongering expert herself.”
“After I have listened for 10 minutes to Councillor Lawlor go on, I need a translation of what it is I’m doing, and I would ask for a deferral of the deferral so I can figure out what the heck she’s talking about,” he also said. “There is none of us around the table with an eye and ear [who] don’t have some concern about greenhouse gases and the desire to be emissions-free. Give us some credit.”
In speaking with HaltonHillsToday, Fogal expressed disappointment in her colleague's "name-calling."
"I was disappointed that the chair at the time (Mike Albano) didn't call out Councillor Lewis because we don't do name-calling," Fogal said. "It was inappropriate, uncalled for. Everything was quite civil, I thought. Why did he do that? I don't know."
Back at Monday's council meeting, consensus was finally reached when Fogal made the amendment to the resolution.
The Town intends to monitor the feasibility of supporting the phase out of gas-powered electricity as new innovation and power-generating capacity evolves.
That motion was prompted by the Province’s mammoth ramp up of gas-fired electricity generation in 2020. Projections by the IESO state that emissions will increase by 400 percent by 2040.
