How does Ontario meet its energy needs?
The Ontario government is committed to ensuring a balanced, stable, clean energy mix that will serve the province’s needs well into the future. That mix includes energy from various sources, including nuclear, natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar power, as well as a strong focus on conservation and demand management. The government is committed to phasing out coal-fired plants by 2014. Today, emissions-free hydro and nuclear generation provide more than 75 per cent of Ontario’s electricity needs. Nuclear power meets just over half of Ontario’s energy needs; hydro power meets a little more than a quarter, and the remaining quarter is made up of a mix of gas (about 15 percent), coal (about 7 percent), wind (1.5 percent) and oil and biogas (less than 1 percent). Ontario has more than 670 wind turbines capable of generating more than 1,100 megawatts, a nearly 80-fold increase from 2003.
