A provincial committee comprised of MPPs has tabled its final report on alternative fuel sources, concluding that the coal-fired generating plants in Thunder Bay and Atikokan should either be closed within three years, or converted to cleaner-burning fuels. The report proposes Ontario adopt a provincial strategy to set a framework for the promotion and use of alternative fuels and green energy in a shift toward renewable energy usage. The report states the provincial government should close Ontario Power Generation's Atikokan and Thunder Bay plants by July 1, 2005, suggesting the plants be replaced by wind farms. The report also proposes the province shut down all remaining coal- or oil-fired generating stations by 2015.
The Power Workers Union is expected to lobby the government in an effort to voice concerns over the replacement of 500 megawatts of power with wind power in the three-year timeframe proposed by the committee. Officials with the Ontario Power Generation say a conversion of such magnitude is not achievable in such a short timeframe.
