The Ontario government has tabled ambitious new legislation designed to accelerate the implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the province. The Green Energy and Green Economy Act was introduced and received First Reading in the Ontario legislature on February 23.
“There exists today a global race to establish the policies, attract the investment and build the foundation for the green economy that is sure to sustain future prosperity and progress,” said George Smitherman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. “It is a race Ontario is determined to win. This proposed legislation would help Ontario become the preferred destination for green jobs, green investment and green energy.” The legislation is enabling rather than prescriptive and focuses largely on giving additional powers to provincial agencies that will allow them wider scope to facilitate the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. As a result, it will likely be several months before the full details and specific impacts of the legislation, known as Bill 150, will be known with certainty.
The legislation, if passed, will give a major boost to Ontario’s reputation as a world leader in renewable energy and result in increased investment in new renewable sources of electricity generation for Ontario in the coming years, APPrO president Dave Butters said.
Butters said that a “best-in class renewable energy feed-in tariff” combined with streamlined approvals processes and service guarantees has the potential to deliver Ontario’s renewable energy targets faster than previously planned. He also noted that these changes could lead to significantly improved project certainty, which would in turn result in lower cost projects.
“APPrO members’ companies have been responsible for most of Ontario’s contracted renewable energy projects so far. Renewable energy is good for the environment and the economy – we intend to work closely with the government over the next several months to make sure that the feed-in tariff is as big a success as it possibly can be,” Butters said.
But he also emphasized that Ontario needs a balance between reliable emission-free nuclear and other lower-emissions generation together with renewable generation, which acting in combination, will lead Ontario to the lowest carbon energy system in North America. “We need to keep this important fact in mind if we are to continue to ensure reliable, low cost and secure energy for consumers of all kinds, whenever they need it,” Butters added.
More information about Bill 150 and its features is available from the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, and the legislation itself can be viewed on the website of the Ontario Legislative Assembly: www.ontla.on.ca/and click on Bills & Lawmaking > Current Parliament and scroll down to # 150.
IPPSO FACTO intends to provide more complete coverage of the Bill and its potential implications in the next issue of the magazine. Watch for our special feature on the Green Energy Act in April.