NDP Leader Howard Hampton will reverse four lost years of misguided McGuinty Liberal hydro policies with a Green Lights electricity plan that will deliver cleaner and greener electricity than McGuinty’s $40-billion nuclear scheme.

The NDP plan means aggressive action to reduce hydro consumption, a significant boost in clean renewable power like wind, solar and water power, and cutting duplication and waste within Ontario’s out-of-control hydro bureaucracies. It will create up to 158,000 good-paying jobs and give Ontario the electricity it needs to shut down the Nanticoke coal plant by 2011 and halt plans for new nuclear plants.

“Dalton McGuinty’s misguided hydro policies, broken promises and missed opportunities have meant skyrocketing hydro rates, more smog, more greenhouse gases and the threat of more nuclear plants for today’s working families. It is time to end four lost years and repair the damage that McGuinty has caused,” Hampton said.

“Our plan means shifting Ontario towards a greener electricity supply mix, putting energy efficiency at the centre of electricity issues and establishing a solid foundation for reliable, affordable energy. That means giving the green light to energy efficiency, energy conservation and green power, and the red light to the Nanticoke coal plant by 2011 and new nuclear power,” he said.

Hampton made the announcement at “Momentum,” a high-energy weekend conference that brought together Hampton’s NDP team of candidates for the coming provincial election. A packed room of candidates and supporters greeted Hampton’s plan enthusiastically.

Highlights of Hampton’s Green Lights plan include:

Aggressive energy efficiency, conservation and demand management, to reduce consumption and save people money. That includes using cutting-edge Peaksaver technology to reduce hydro use during summer peak periods. It includes providing Manitoba-style low-interest loans to help families retrofit their homes and much tougher building code standards and appliance standards. And it includes a practical plan for 100,000 solar hot water heaters in homes by 2012. We would save 1,700 megawatts through efficiency, 350 megawatts through conservation and 2,500 megawatts through demand management.

A significant boost in clean, renewable electricity such as wind, solar and water power. That includes 300 megawatts of solar power, 1,800 megawatts of installed wind, 100 megawatts from biomass and landfill and 1,500 megawatts more waterpower from Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec. That would generate 3,700 megawatts of green power by 2012.

A significant expansion of industrial cogeneration facilities through the appointment of a long-delayed cogeneration facilitator and enhanced incentives to industrial co-generation plants. Our aggressive cogeneration efforts would give us 400 megawatts of power by 2012.

Coal phase-out. We will cut pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save lives by shutting down the Nanticoke coal plant by the end 2011, closing the Lambton coal plant by the end of 2012 and the two northern coal plants will be gradually reduced and used as insurance in the event of interruptions in power from cleaner sources until they are closed in 2014.

No new nuclear plants. Our plan says ‘No’ to building new nuclear plants – no to massive cost overruns, no to the never-ending delays and no to all the risks, like making our children and grandchildren invent a way to store nuclear waste that stays radioactive and dangerous for thousands of years.

Greater accountability. The cost of running Ontario’s hydro system has increased by $1.2 billion since the privatization and deregulation disaster began in 1998. That’s an increase of 55 per cent. We will save money and keep hydro rates down by cutting duplication of hydro bureaucracies and end "golden handshake" million-dollar payouts to retiring hydro executives. That money should be helping Ontario families, not padding CEO pockets.

Hampton invited working families to compare his practical plan with Dalton McGuinty’s record of bad decisions, broken promises and missed opportunities. “My proposal is a real concrete plan that speaks directly to the need for meeting Ontario’s electricity needs with an aggressive approach to renewables, energy efficiency and conservation,” Hampton said.

“Mr. McGuinty forgot today’s working families the day he was elected. He’s broken promise after promise after promise and let us down every step of the way. He promised to hold the line on hydro rates through 2006 then raised them weeks after taking office. He promised to shut Nanticoke by 2007 ‘come hell or high water’ and it’s still running. He promised to reduce electricity consumption by 10 per cent then he scrapped energy efficiency incentives and now we’re setting records for hydro consumption. He promised not to build new nuclear plants and now he wants a $40 billion nuclear megascheme and he has weakened Ontario’s environmental laws so his scheme will escape environmental scrutiny,” the NDP Leader said.

The NDP plan is a fair deal for families. “Ontario families want clean green energy. Dalton McGuinty got it wrong. New Democrats will make it right,” Hampton said.