June 10, 2016

The Government of Ontario plans to issue a new Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP) that will set out and balance Ontario’s goals of cost-effectiveness; reliability; clean energy; community and indigenous engagement; and emphasis on conservation and demand management. As you know, Bill 135, the Energy Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, has received Royal Assent. To support the development of the LTEP, we anticipate that the IESO will submit a technical report on the adequacy and reliability of Ontario’s electricity resources, pursuant to section 25.29(3) of the Electricity Act, 1998, as that section will be amended (the “Act”).

The technical report shall provide a ten-year review (2005-2015) and a twenty year forecast (2016-2035) of the electricity system with respect to:

• Costs of the electricity system
• Conservation
• Demand
• Supply resources including electricity storage
• Capacity
• Reliability
• Market and System Operations
• Transmission and Distribution
• Air emissions from the electricity sector

The forecasts shall consider existing supply commitments and directions, as well as other related government commitments, including, but not limited to, the recently released Climate Change Action Plan, the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, 2016, and the Vancouver Declaration.

The technical report will provide an objective baseline and help facilitate the formal consultation process for the development of the LTEP. In accordance with the Act, the technical report will be posted on a publicly-accessible Government of Ontario website. Consistent with the Open Data Directive, datasets and key assumptions used to develop the technical report will also be made available to the public. I encourage you to work with my staff to ensure the technical report and underlying data meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

The Act will require the technical report to be posted publicly prior to the Ministry undertaking any LTEP consultations. I therefore request that the report be submitted to the Ministry no later than September 1, 2016.