OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to a letter about Canada taking on climate change, published Nov. 6.
*************************
Reading Tim Zukalski's letter, it was hard to miss his self-assurance in advancing tattered arguments to attack Gordon Ball's position. But this letter is about Ontario, not about a lobby from Alberta.
If it is true that prices of electric energy generated in Ontario from water are being vastly discounted to sell surpluses out of province, then it is time for Ontario electricity rates to come down much more than recent small decreases per Kilowatt hour.
At the moment, it is less expensive to use (greener) electric power, generated from water, at off-peak hours, than to use natural gas or propane to heat a home. So, electric baseboard heaters have been installed in our high-use areas. The gas furnace remains, but will not be used as often.
The home heating fuel market could be swung over to electricity in Ontario with relatively small changes to pricing. This would accomplish some 'greening', since electricity in Ontario is mostly generated from water, not from burning fossil fuels, as it is in many parts of Alberta.
Janet Houston
Orillia
*************************
