Ontario will end 2014 with nuclear power providing about 60% of our electricity at 30% below the average cost of power in the province. That’s a fact.

In a year where there has been a wide-ranging discussion about and attention paid to so many issues when it comes to energy, nuclear power has again been a topic that is largely absent from this discussion, both in terms of its importance and role.

While this is often a disappointment to me, I accept that.

Our job is to be there every day when people need us, in the cold winter and hot summer days, 365 days a year.

This is a role we have played for decades and, I believe, should and will continue to play.

We do this safely and have done so for decades.

Our safety record in Canada speaks for itself.

Canada is respected internationally with a strong, independent federal regulator with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

It’s only when we don’t have enough power that the discussion shifts to talk about the importance of nuclear.

In recent weeks we have seen many examples in the U.S. when nuclear plants were not life extended and now there is a significant power crunch.

The problem is, by then it’s too late.

Ontario has a long-term energy plan and I believe our industry should be focused on delivering our assigned role at the lowest cost possible.

Delivering our role has proven to be an enabler to renewables in Ontario, coal phase-out and exporting power to Quebec to meet its energy deficit in the winter months.

I recognize a big issue for all families and businesses in the province is the cost of electricity.

The problem we have in nuclear is that when we talk about our billions of dollars in investments required to refurbish our existing units, people believe this must mean a high-cost of power to families and businesses.

I think the nuclear industry hasn’t done as good of a job as we could have to explain this in a multiple decade context, because it’s important.

Our units do require a large amount of investment to build or refurbish, but the volume of energy produced and reliability of the units is so great that it results in a very low cost of electricity.

If nuclear delivers its role in Ontario’s long-term energy plan it will continue to be a source of price stability for decades to come.

For example, if today, you got 100% of your electricity from nuclear, your bill would be reduced by 30%.

There is nothing hidden in that — it covers all our costs — investment, operations, management of waste and the eventual decommissioning of the facility.

We do this without generating greenhouse gas emissions.

I’m very proud Ontario phased out the use of coal in electricity generation.

We were able to do that using a number of new sources of generation, but the fact is 70% of the energy needed to phase out coal in Ontario came from nuclear power.

Nuclear has a role to play moving forward, as it has for decades.

I’m proud of this role. I know we aren’t the entire solution, but we are an important contributor to a balanced supply mix of energy.

— Hawthorne is president and CEO of Bruce Power, operators of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station