The great energy shift had to be a winning bet. A unifying force for the second mandate of the CAQ.
Between Northvolt and the accusation of an Energy Dollarama, the project took on the appearance of a mirage. Difficult for such an unpopular government to inspire dreams.
However, this is precisely Ontario’s big bet.
Friend Doug Ford is not impressed by the industrial power of Hydro-Québec.
He wants to make his province the energy superpower of North America!
Because Ontario has two major advantages over Quebec: the variety of energy sources and a certain ideological freedom.
Big turn
Just like Quebec, Ontario will run out of energy by 2050.
And just like Quebec, Ontario has understood that its energy resources represent a gold mine for the future.
Except that west of the Ottawa River, we are not paralyzed by environmentalist right-thinking.
Ontarians have a choice, says Doug Ford. “A pro-growth agenda that attracts investment, creates jobs and keeps energy costs low for people and businesses, or an ideological dogma that offers false choices.”
This is how Ontario intends to rely not only on its hydroelectricity, but also on natural gas and especially on nuclear power to take the energy shift head on.
Already, the province’s four nuclear power plants will be modernized, but the Minister of Energy does not rule out building new ones.
You see, the objective is not only to attract companies and their billions in investments. It is also and above all to become the energy supplier to neighboring American states.
New York State, but also Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio.
The price of audacity
Ontario already has contracts to sell modular nuclear reactors to Tennessee, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. It is in negotiations with the Czech Republic, Poland and Latvia.
No one imagines that building new power plants will go through like a letter in the mail.
But the Ford government doesn’t care!
He has his idea, he goes for it. He intends to rally the silent majority.
However, for its part, the Legault government has closed the door to any new gas exploitation for ecological reasons. He shut the mouths of his new CEO of Hydro-Québec on nuclear power for fear of the backlash.
Quebec can boast of having signed energy export contracts with New York and Massachusetts.
The message to the rest of the planet is clear.
The tap is turned off for the United States. And Europe and its dependence on natural gas, meh. No pipeline, no gas pipeline, we are virtuous!
Quebec has everything it takes to establish itself as an energy superpower. But he also has everything that harms him.
It is up to the Legault government to decide. Should it put all its eggs in the battery sector or maintain, or even expand, the export route?
