Ontario's electricity system is at a crossroads. New technologies and environmental limits have rendered the old energy model  obsolete, dominated as it is by large, centralized generation from mega-hydro projects, nuclear plants and fossil fuels.

The environmental and social costs of the system built around the expansionist Ontario Hydro are evident in the massive debt, security risks and long-term dangers from radioactive wastes associated with nuclear power, as well as in the deadly regional air pollution and global climate change associated with the combustion of fossil fuels.

But an ideologically-driven rush to privatize and de-regulate the electrical sector will not solve our environmental or health problems. To answer the challenges of the 21st century, Ontario must develop a balanced portfolio of clean electricity solutions that stop wasting energy, while developing local, renewable energy supplies to increase energy security. Consuming less or using energy more efficiently is the cleanest form of energy. The remainder of our energy needs can be met by using clean, green renewable resources like wind, solar and micro-hydro power or by capturing methane gas from composters and landfills

Greening Public Power outlines how this can be achieved.