Canada’s Brittle Energy Infrastructure

Yesterday, Enbridge had the audacity to announce that natural gas prices in Ontario will increase 40% if the Ontario government allows it to do so.

I say FU to Enbridge, but then my opinion usually doesn’t matter much, nor do the rights of consumers of Ontario when it comes to a reliable energy supply.  Some bigwig somewhere in the high rooms of our regulators is probably having surf and turf served up with the best Margaux all on the corporate credit card of some sales dude with the big energy company, and the din of our complaints will be drowned out by their laughter and vast, deep cushions of money between us and them.

Once again … the threat of a price increase like this will crush any economic recovery in Ontario and the rest of the East to the benefit of Alberta.

This is how sad our country has become.  It the West gains, the East loses and vice versa.

Our energy infrastructure is clearly too brittle to handle a cold Canadian climate.

How did that happen?  How did planning and foresight become so mismanaged that an extra few weeks of cold have resulted in the biggest price increase since the oil shocks of the 1970s?

Why are we risking putting restaurant owners and cafes, retailers, mom and pop shops, manufacturers and other businesses OUT OF BUSINESS because someone forgot to check to see how much we had for gas reserves?

This is truly sad.

We are a NET PRODUCER OF ENERGY in this country and we’re being threatened with a 40% increase in ENERGY prices?  Am I the only one who’s shaking his head in disbelief this morning on hearing this news?

This gigantic rip off begs a solution.  We need to address and change Ontario’s desperate energy infrastructure and quickly.  We need to implement solar, wind, geothermal, methane treatment, tree burning if we have to, but we cannot be told that we not have a choice between eating and heat.

If we don’t, we’ll all be digging in Alberta’s Tar Sands, pumping gas to the Chinese.