Ontario, Canada to permanently eliminate coal burning from electricity grid

The Government of Ontario, Canada has introduced legislation that, if passed, would eliminate coal-fired generation as a source of electricity.

The proposed Ending Coal for Cleaner Air Act would ensure that once coal facilities stop operating by the end of 2014, coal burning generation on the electricity grid will never happen again. This would help ensure the public health and climate change benefits of ending coal-fired electricity are protected.

Protecting the environment while providing clean, reliable and affordable power is part of the government's plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate across Ontario.

"Coal-fired electricity generation is a major source of health-threatening smog, and of climate-destabilizing carbon dioxide. Our proposed legislation will ensure that dirty coal-fired electricity remains a practice of the past." quoted Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment.

Quick facts:

• According to an independent study, Ontario’s coal-fired power plants cost the people of Ontario an estimated $4.4 billion per year in health, environmental, and financial damages.
• Ontario’s elimination of coal-fired electricity is the single-largest greenhouse gas reduction initiative in North America.
• Becoming a coal-free province is the equivalent of taking up to seven million cars off the road.
• Since 2003, 3,300 MW of renewable energy generation has been brought online including wind, solar, bio-energy and small hydroelectric generation.
• Ontario’s Green Energy Act has attracted billions of dollars in private sector investments and created 31,000 jobs since 2009.
• By August 2014, the Independent Electricity System Operator is expecting more than 3,200 MW of additional renewable capacity to be connected to the grid — enough to power about 980,000 homes each year.