The Integrated Power System Plan (IPSP) to be developed by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) under the terms of the directives provided to it by the Government of Ontario on June 13, 2006, will have major environmental, economic and social implications for present and future generations of Ontarians. The plan will involve major choices regarding the environmental, social, economic and health risks and costs associated with the provision of electricity in Ontario. We continue to believe that an environmental assessment under Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act would be the best way to gain an understanding of the risks and costs associated with the OPA’s proposed plan, and the viability of alternatives to it.
The Pembina Institute notes that as an alternative to an environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act, the OPA has been directed, under Ontario regulation 277/06 to “ensure that safety and economic and environmental sustainability and environmental protection are reflected in the (IPSP).” We are increasingly concerned about how effectively even this much more limited obligation will be addressed by the OPA.
