The war on natural gas in Ontario needs to stop
There’s a war being waged in Ontario against home heating sources and it’s got to stop.
Late last year, the Ford government made the right call in stating they would overturn a decision by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to effectively discourage the attachment of new housing to the natural gas grid.
Typically, when a new housing development is planned, the units will be hooked up to natural gas when they are built. This requires a great deal of planning and building out of the natural gas infrastructure.
Payment for this infrastructure has customarily been made in small installments over a period of 40 years by the homeowner. This system worked well for decades and there was no reason to believe it would not work well for decades to come.
Natural gas is currently the most common source of heating in Ontario, used by 60% of households.
Enter the green zealots. Their influence undoubtedly contributed to the OEB decision to change this approach and now require the developer to pay the entire cost of the attachment of the new housing to the gas grid up front. This increases the cost of a home by about $4,400.
This means the cost of homes will increase and there will be a disincentive to hook up the houses to natural gas. That’s what the activists want.
