Province locking families into decades of higher hydro, heating costs

Ford's energy strategy relies on expensive bets and reduced role for renewables that could be deployed faster

By now, many Ontario families have opened their energy bills and felt a jolt. Even when we turn down the thermostat or switch off lights, the total keeps climbing and more increases are on the way.

That isn’t just bad luck. It is the direct result of political choices about what kind of energy Ontario builds, who benefits, and who pays.

The Doug Ford government is pursuing an energy expansion plan built around three costly pillars: prolonging fossil fuel use, doubling down on expensive new nuclear projects, and sidelining lower-cost renewable options that could be deployed faster and more affordably. The result will be higher consumer bills for decades.

The hidden cost of sticking with gas

Natural gas still plays a major role in Ontario’s electricity and home heating. But gas is far from cheap.

On a typical gas bill, about one-third of the cost comes from pipeline delivery charges for storage, meters, and other infrastructure. These are fees households pay even if they reduce usage. Gas prices themselves are volatile because they are tied to North American markets. When prices spike, families feel it immediately.

When gas is used to generate electricity, costs add up quickly. Electricity from gas can cost six to nine cents per kilowatt-hour to produce. Add carbon costs and that rises to roughly 11 to 15 cents. Those costs flow straight into hydro bills.

Continuing to expand gas generation locks Ontario into decades of fuel purchases, delivery infrastructure, and rising carbon expenses, all tacked on to ratepayers’ energy bills. It also increases greenhouse gas emissions at a time when climate-related damages are already costing taxpayers billions.

The nuclear price tag families will carry

At the same time, Premier Doug Ford and Energy Minister Stephen Lecce have made nuclear power, including a new large reactor and unproven small modular reactors (SMRs), the centrepieces of Ontario’s long-term electricity plan.

Nuclear is the most expensive form of new electricity generation available to Ontario. It requires enormous up-front public financing, takes more than a decade to deliver new power, and carries a long history of cost overruns and delays. Ratepayers begin paying for these projects long before they produce electricity.

SMRs, heavily promoted by the Ford government, remain commercially unproven. Ontario families are effectively being asked to finance a high-risk experiment.

There are additional long-term liabilities. New nuclear facilities will depend on imported enriched uranium, largely from the United States, which ties Ontario’s energy security to foreign supply chains. And each reactor adds to the growing stockpile of high-level radioactive waste for which Canada still has no operating long-term disposal solution.

These production costs do not disappear. They are embedded in electricity rates and provincial debt. Nuclear refurbishments, new reactors, and gas contracts accumulate. Electricity rates are already projected to rise significantly, locking these expenses into long-term rate structures. Families will ultimately pay through higher hydro bills, increased public borrowing, or reduced public services for decisions whose costs will last for decades.

The options being deliberately sidelined

What makes this path especially costly is that Ontario has cheaper, faster alternatives. Wind power in Ontario now costs roughly four to six cents per kilowatt-hour. Solar costs about five to cents cents, already competitive with or cheaper than gas, and far below nuclear. By 2030, wind costs are expected to fall further, potentially into the three-to-four-cent range.

Unlike gas, renewables have no fuel costs and no exposure to volatile commodity markets. Unlike nuclear power, they can be built in a few years, not decades. Once constructed, their operating costs are low and predictable for many years to come.

Renewables also avoid carbon pricing, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthen energy security by relying on resources Ontario has in abundance: wind, sunlight, water, and geothermal heat.

Beyond lower electricity prices, renewable expansion attracts private investment, creates local construction and maintenance jobs, and keeps more energy dollars circulating within Ontario communities rather than flowing out for imported fuel, foreign reactor technology, and enriched uranium.

Who pays for ‘pet projects?’

The government frames its nuclear expansion and gas buildout as necessary for reliability and growth. And as a consequence of the government having impeded investor interest in renewable projects for years, the Ford regime has made the need for all energy options almost inevitable. But it won’t change the fact a balanced system that includes renewables, storage, conservation, and grid modernization still offers lower cost with less risk.

Yet Ontario is still being steered toward capital-intensive mega projects that align with the government’s preferred technologies while pushing aside lower-cost, quicker-to-deploy renewable solutions. The financial burden of that choice will fall on monthly energy bills.

The real choice for Ontario families

Affordable energy is not about hoping gas prices stay low or betting billions on nuclear projects that won’t deliver power for 10 to 15 years. It is about choosing energy sources that are low-cost, fast to build, stable in price, and locally available.

Ontario has strong wind resources, ample solar potential, growing geothermal expertise, and skilled workers ready to build. What is lacking is political will.

Energy bills do not rise on their own. They rise because governments choose expensive pathways and ask consumers to carry the risk.

For Ontario families concerned about rising hydro and heating costs, the lesson is clear: Ford’s laser focus on fossil fuels and nuclear mega projects comes at a higher-than-needed price. And it is one consumers will be paying for generations.

Renewable energy offers a different path: lower long-term costs, faster relief, more local jobs, and greater energy independence. The question is not whether Ontario has options. It is whether the government will choose the ones that protect household budgets instead of doubling down on its most expensive bets.

Read this article on Newmarket Today.