http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/coal-plants-closing-ontario-1.3938179
[As a resident of Ontario who pays some attention to the electricity
file, I call 'shenanigans' on the Fraser Institute talking points.
If we're going to cherry-pick our data points, let's consider the fact
that 'air-quality' days were a regular feature for Ontario from 2005 to
2013 inclusive. From 2014 onwards - when Ontario stopped burning coal
for power generation, there has not been a single 'air-quality' day
anywhere in Ontario. 100% reduction seems statistically significant to me.]
Closing Ontario coal plants didn't cut air pollution by much, says
Fraser Institute
Think tank says coal plant scrubbers would have same impact as closing
plants
[Scrubbers were considered as early as the 1990s as a solution, but
considered uneconomic for old plants and less than 100% effective.
Closing the plants is 100% effective.]
CBC News Posted: Jan 17, 2017 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 17, 2017 5:19
PM ET
The minimal benefits of shutting down all of Ontario's coal-fired power
plants didn't justify the cost of the closures, according to a new study
from the Fraser Institute.
Air pollution levels decreased slightly as a result of shutting down the
plants in Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa, but installing pollution
"scrubbers" on the plants would have created the same effect, according
to the study released Tuesday from the Vancouver-based think tank.
The study, authored by Ross McKitrick and Elmira Aliakbari, specifically
notes pollution reduction in Toronto and Hamilton was "not statistically
significant" with regard to coal plant closures. They cite industrial
pollution, emissions from natural gas plants and natural weather
conditions as having a greater impact on pollution across the province.
[The report should have considered the entire province, not just
Hamilton - downwind from the main coal-fired plant at issue - and
Toronto - generally unaffected due to the tall stacks putting the
pollution above the city as it was carried downwind. Ottawa
historically has good air quality, except in the main bus corridors
through the city core due to bus diesel engine exhaust.]
The Fraser Institute's report was authored by economists, who looked at
the costs and benefits of removing coal from the power generation
system. It points out that electricity prices in the province have gone
up due to closing coal plants, something Premier Kathleen Wynne has also
admitted led to higher hydro costs for consumers.
[Actually, electricity wholesale prices in Ontario have fallen since
2014 as more hydro, wind and solar energy has been added to the grid.
Retail prices have gone up, primarily related to the costs of massive
refurbishing of nuclear plants, bungled contracts related to (unneeded)
natural gas peaking plants, and massive catch-up on delayed main
transmissions system maintenance and upgrades. While Premier admits the
obvious (retail prices for electricity are up), she did not lay this at
the feet of the coal plant closures, which are undoubtedly reducing
health care costs provincially. As for the natural gas plants, they now
make up 30% of the Ontario grid's capacity, while providing 4% of the
electricity supply (Jan-Mar 2017 per IESO data).]
The Ontario Ministry of Energy maintains closing the plants was the
right decision.
Spokesman Dan Moulton points out they were "the source of countless smog
days." As well, according to Moulton, "closing the plants is... saving
us more than $4 billion in annual health care expenses."
However, the Fraser Institute's perspective is the amount of pollution
caused by coal-fired plants was not significant enough to see such
health improvements.
[The Fraser Institute should have hired some health experts to counter
their economists.]
In a statement, McKitrick pointed out "policymakers in Ottawa should
note how Ontario's coal phase out failed to achieve its stated goals."
[Disagree. The federal government should note that Ontario's coal phase
out did not crash the grid, significantly impact wholesale electricity
prices, and did measurably reduce pollution and GHG emissions.]
Coal is still burned to generate around 10 per cent of the country's
electricity. [And is scheduled to be phased out completely by 2030,
nationwide.]
