THUNDER BAY – Roger Barber says the Northern Industrial Energy Rate program has redefined Resolute Forest Products’ business outlook in Northwestern Ontario.
The company’s general manager of forestry and fibre resources on Friday applauded the province’s decision to extend the $360-million incentive for another three years, saying without it a lot of improvements and expansions Resolute has made in the area may not have been approved.
Under NIER, companies can save up to $20 million annually on their energy bills, putting Ontario mills and mines on par with those in other provinces, including Quebec.
Barber said it’s helped them survive tough times.
“It’s pretty hard to overstate how important this program is to our industry,” he said, estimating one-third of papermaking costs are devoted to energy consumption.
“The whole global crisis has really hit our industry hard.”
By securing the program, Barber added the company can continue to grow in Thunder Bay.
“We’ve restructured our business over the last number of years and having competitive energy costs really were a critical component to achieving that. So having stability in energy pricing going forward is really important.”
Larry Hebert, representing the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, said they’ve been lobbying the province to keep the program alive.
“This is one we believe the government has really gotten right,” Hebert said.
Minister of Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle said the program, which was extended to the mining industry in 2010, clearly needed to be extended and was an easy decision to make.
“It’s just tremendous news,” Gravelle said.
“We recognized just how vital this, particularly when we see the tremendous opportunities that are coming our way in the resource sector and we need to have a way to keep the energy costs down for them and this program will do just that.”
Liberal MPP colleague Bill Mauro (Thunder Bay-Atikokan), said it’s just one of several programs his government has made that are benefiting Northern Ontario companies.
“We’ve been there at the table for these guys for a long, long time,” Mauro said. “Not just the energy program.”
The extension will end in 2016.
