TORONTO - Rather than building nuclear reactors, a provincial NDP government would pump cash into renewable energy and slash electricity demand by implementing power-saving technologies, party leader Howard Hampton announced Saturday.

The NDP would promote retrofitting to make homes more energy efficient and would phase out the coal-burning Nanticoke plant, which is Ontario's biggest source of greenhouse gases, by 2011.

The Liberal plan is to shut down the Nanticoke plant by 2014.

"You have to make energy efficiency and energy conservation the centre of your hydro policy,'' Hampton told reporters Saturday.

"If we want to do the environmentally responsible thing, we've got to tackle this electricity challenge _ that can't be avoided.''

By offering low-interest loans for home retrofitting, Hampton said the province could seriously cut down demand. He added that similar, successful programs have been put in place in Manitoba.

According to the NDP, the price tag for running the province's hydro system since it was privatized in 1998 has increased by $1.2 billion thanks to mismanagement and bureaucratic inefficiency _ a figure equal to 55 per cent of the total cost.

Hampton also blasted the governing Liberals' $40-billion energy plan, which includes building new nuclear power plants, saying that future generations will be forced to deal with dangerous waste.

But Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said Hampton's claims about the province's financing of energy consist of "gross misrepresentations.''

He said his government has been leading the way in investing in green initiatives.

"We've invested in energy conservation, we've invested in a home retrofit program... you have to do these things, and you have to pursue them aggressively, but part of the solution has to be nuclear.''

Duncan said Ontario's energy needs are growing and the province has to ensure that the power grid stays reliable as the province closes its coal-fired power plants.

The New Democrats, meanwhile, also criticized the government's current building codes, saying they would get tougher on people building new homes.

Hampton pledged to funnel cash into solar, wind and water power.

Dave Martin, energy co-ordinator for Greenpeace, said the NDP plan is unique among the three major provincial parties because it doesn't rely on nuclear power for future supply.

"This definitely throws the gauntlet down and makes energy a major campaign issue,'' said Martin.

He also applauded that initiative for its aggressive coal phaseout plan.

The NDP plan would create 5,150 megawatts of power for the provincial grid by 2012. During a hot day, peak demand for electricity across the province is about 26,000 megawatts.

The Nanticoke plant on Lake Erie produces about 4,000 megawatts of electricity.