Climate Change Action Plan And Ontario's Energy Utilities: 6 Key Initiatives

The Ontario government has released its Climate Change Action Plan (the Action Plan) outlining the measures it will take over the next five years to reduce GHG emissions and transition the province to a low-carbon economy. The Action Plan includes spending of more than $8 billion to achieve a reduction in GHG emissions of 8.9 million tonnes by 2020.

Funding for the spending contemplated under the Action Plan is to come from Ontario's cap and trade program, which the government expects to generate annual proceeds of approximately $1.8 to $1.9 billion. As we discussed in a previous post, questions have been raised about these projected proceeds given that only about 10% of the available carbon credits were sold in Quebec's and California's recent auctions. According to a recent CBC news article, Premier Wynne has acknowledged that there will be highs and lows in the market for carbon credits, and that this could lead the Ontario government to revise its projections