Chasing the wind

** Please Note**
Attendees must register on Zoom at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/O4wa2x2qRv6Rwti4c-Raew

Edgardo Sepulveda is a regulatory economist with more than thirty years of experience in the telecommunications and electricity sectors. He has advised governments, regulatory agencies, companies, unions and consumer advocates in more than forty countries.

During this webinar Edgardo will present the paper he prepared last year published by Macdonald-Laurier Institute titled “Chasing the wind – The value of wind generation in a low-emission nuclear and hydro-dominant grid: the case of Ontario” (https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240724_Wind-power-Sepulveda_PAPER-v13-FINAL.pdf)

This paper tells the economic story of wind generation in Ontario. First, I provide an overview of wind generation’s impact on electricity costs, prices and subsidies: to keep prices low, Ontario subsidizes 70% of the cost of wind. Second, based on regression and cost-benefit analysis, I show that the costs of wind far exceed its societal and climate benefits for the 2020-2023 period. Due to its nuclear and hydro-dominant generation and elimination of coal, Ontario is already one of the lowest-emission large grids in the world and hence the climate benefit from any new zero-emission generation will be limited to the extent it can displace gas generation. Relative to other areas, Ontario’s wind capacity factors are modest and out of sync with gas generation, all resulting in a relatively low wind emissions offset. Third, we calculate a cost-benefit “break-even” wind price of relative very low, for the 2027–2030 period, meaning that wind cannot be cost-beneficial in Ontario in the short/medium term.

Edgardo has written extensively on the electricity sector. Last year he prepared a report on public ownership and re-regulation for the Alberta Federation of Labour (https://diversifyalberta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AFL-Report-Power-in-the-Public-Interest-October-2024.pdf). He has also written about electricity for Jacobin magazine, (https://jacobin.com/2025/05/ndp-public-power-unions-class), TVO Today (https://www.tvo.org/author/edgardo-sepulvedahttps://www.tvo.org/author/edgardo-sepulveda), and in his decarbonization website (www.edecarb.org).

Born in Chile, Edgardo received his B.A. (Honours) from the University of British Columbia and his M.A. from Queen’s University, both in Economics. He established Sepulveda Consulting Inc. in 2006.

Event Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025
Event Time: 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM (ET)