The Ontario PC government is introducing the Protect Ontario by Securing Affordable Energy for Generations Act, 2025 to power our province’s future. This bold legislation will help meet soaring electricity demand while keeping energy affordable, reliable, secure, and clean for families, businesses, and industry across Ontario.
Electricity demand in Ontario is expected to increase by 75% over the next 25 years—the equivalent of adding four and a half Torontos to our energy grid. That growth is being driven by population increases, industrial electrification, new manufacturing, and advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Among the most significant contributors to future demand are data centres, which support cloud computing, AI, and digital services. With dozens of new projects seeking to connect to the grid—representing nearly 30% of peak provincial demand—Ontario is responding with a smarter, more strategic approach.
This legislation will:
- Codify and add “economic growth” as a formal objective of Ontario’s energy agencies – the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) – ensuring for the first time that agencies are required to actively support job creating investment into Ontario.
- Support Ontario utilities to buy-Canadian and build a more secure energy system by enabling them to fund investments necessary to implement new restrictions on hostile foreign participants in Ontario’s energy sector – protecting the province from risks of malware, manipulation, tampering and surveillance.
- Support Ontario’s growing hydrogen economy by expanding the IESO’s mandate to include hydrogen development – enabling them to fund innovative new projects that will help build a more diverse energy system, including through the Hydrogen Innovation Fund.
- Expand the eligibility of the Future Clean Electricity Fund (FCEF) to include nuclear generation and transmission infrastructure, which will be necessary to meet the province’s growing electricity demand.
The Protect Ontario by Securing Affordable Energy for Generations Act will be a cornerstone of Ontario’s first-ever Integrated Energy Plan, which brings together electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, and other fuels into one coordinated strategy. It’s all part of our plan to make Ontario’s economy the most competitive in the G7—with a future built on strength, self-reliance, and prosperity.