New provincial legislation is giving communities and municipalities a stronger voice when it comes to the location of wind and solar projects.
Ontario’s Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli announced a new procurement process for renewable projects on Thursday. The new process will replace the existing Feed-In Tariff program for projects over 500 kilowatts.
The new process now requires energy planners and developers to work directly with municipalities to identify where projects should go.
“These changes will give communities and municipalities a stronger voice, more options and new tools when it comes to renewable energy,” Chiarelli is quoted as saying in a news release issued Thursday.
“It’s also clear that we need to make changes to increase local control over the siting of renewable energy projects.”
Nor’Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee president John Beals isn’t sure just yet what this news means for his group and its fight against the proposed Horizon Wind Inc. wind farm.
“I think the province and the new premier Kathleen Wynne is trying to say to communities that we have to take a closer look at the impacts of wind turbines on the citizens of Ontario and the communities they’re near or in,” he said.
“We say hallelujah to that. I don’t think the Ontario government looked closely enough. They wanted to change the Green Energy Act to encourage more green energy but I don’t think they truly saw the problem.”
He said the biggest flaw with the current Feed-In Tariff is that the government doesn’t take a closer look at the projects that come up.
Horizon Wind spokeswoman Kathleen MacKenzie said the new process wouldn’t impact the company’s project.
“The new Feed-In Tariff rules won’t affect us or any other company that applied under the old Tariff rules,” she said from Toronto.
“We’re pleased to see Ontario’s continued commitment to renewable energy. We’re actually pleased at some of the measures in the new legislation. There will be an increased commitment to renewable energy and already tens of thousands of jobs have been created. We welcome the chance to work with Thunder Bay on a municipal energy plan.”
