CanREA

On May 14, 2009 the Government of Ontario passed Bill 150: the Green Energy and Employment Act, the first legislation in North America to give priority grid access to renewable sources of power and set fixed “feed-in tariff” premium rates for these power sources under 20 year contracts.  The Act allows any renewable power system, from the smallest household solar system to large off shore wind farms in the Great Lakes, to connect to the grid and make a reasonable return on investment. The Act also includes measures to accelerate the adoption of energy conservation measures, including the labelling of homes and buildings with their energy consumption.

To download a copy of the Act click here. For an analysis of Bill 150 by the Green Energy Act Alliance visit http://www.greenenergyact.ca.  

The introduction of feed-in tariffs and guranteed access for renewable power sources represents a complete change in the way power will be provided to Ontarians in the 21st century. Up until now, renewable power sources had to be integrated into an exsting grid. From now on, a new grid will be bulit around these renewable power sources.

The feed-in tariffs that would be paid for each renewable energy source by Ontario Power Authority (OPA) were finalized on May 12:  13.5 - 19.0 cents / kWh for wind, 44.3 - 80.2 cents / kWh for solar, 12.9 - 13.4 cents /kWh for hydro, and 10.3 - 14.7 cents / kWh for biogas and biomass. These rates are comparable to those paid in Europe where they have created thousands of jobs and attracted the lions share of global private investment in renewable power over the last few years. The feed in tariff program will be launched in September 2009. For more details see http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/FIT/  

“Ontario’s feed-in tariffs announcement is a huge step forward that will put Ontario at the forefront of global renewable energy markets.” says Jose Echeverry, CanREA President. “These tariffs will set a crucial policy precedent in North America for job creation, energy security, and greenhouse gas reduction.”

For a  comparison of the proposed individual tariffs with the approach used in Europe, read Paul Gipe’s commentary “Ontario Proposes Precedent - Setting Renewable Tariffs: World Class Tariffs for North America”

For more general information about feed-in tariffs see the Fact Sheet and Primer Feeding the Grid Renewably. To read about where feed-in tariffs are being used or considered around the world vist http://www.allianceforrenewableenergy.org or http://www.wind-works.org.