Energy Security for Ontario

Produced by the Mowat Centre at the School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto.Ontario’s energy security policy is comprised of three distinct policies covering oil, electricity and natural gas. Ontario’s security policy is minimalist for oil, being left to markets and emergency planning; but more interventionist for electricity, with self-sufficiency favoured as an inherently worthwhile policy objective. The third area is Ontario’s approach to natural gas security, which includes clearer governance and accountability structures and an explicit consideration of security of supply and how best to achieve it. Three distinct approaches for the different energy sources may be the best approach when arrived at deliberately and with a common set of transparent assumptions. However, there is little justification or policy rationale for many provinces’ commitment to self-sufficiency in electricity but not in other areas of energy. Policy-makers should consider all of the various energy options open to them and assess each in regards to the three key criteria that should be used when making energy policy decisions: security of supply, cost and environmental footprint