Green Energy Rules Make Ontario A North American Leader

New regulations introduced today will create thousands of jobs in the new green economy under Ontario's Green Energy Act.
Ontario's new regulations provide a stable investment environment where companies know what the rules are -- giving them the confidence to invest in Ontario, hire workers, and produce and sell renewable energy.

• A Feed-In-Tariff program, which allows individuals and companies to sell renewable energy -- like solar, wind, water, biomass, biogas and landfill gas -- into the grid at set rates.

• Domestic content requirements, which would ensure at least 25 per cent of wind projects and 50 per cent of solar projects be produced in Ontario -- requirements for solar will increase by January 1, 2011 and wind will increase by January 1, 2012.

• A streamlined approvals process and a service guarantee to bring developers greater certainty.

• Regulations for setting wind turbines certain distances from houses, roadways and property lines.

• A new Ontario Renewable Energy Facilitation Office -- a one-stop shop to help renewable energy projects get off the ground faster.

More than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created under the Act. Investments in new renewable energy projects already in place or under construction in Ontario since 2003 exceed $4 billion.

Feed-In Tariff Program Two-Year Review

Ontario is launching its scheduled review of the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program. This will examine program rules and pricing to ensure the program remains successful and sustainable. The FIT Program, which launched in 2009, is the most comprehensive program of its kind in North America.
The province’s Green Energy Act and FIT program was launched in 2009 to:

• Make it easier and more efficient to bring renewable energy projects of all sizes online.
• Stimulate the economy and create jobs, making Ontario a clean energy leader.
• Help replace dirty coal-fired plants with cleaner sources of renewable energy, cleaning up the air, protecting the health of Ontarians and reducing the province’s environmental footprint.

Since the launch of the Green Energy Act and FIT program, the province has:

• Offered contracts for approximately 2,500 medium and large FIT Projects and over 11,000 microFIT projects have connected or are expected to connect soon. This represents enough electricity to power almost 1.2 million homes.
• Created more than 20,000 jobs and is on track to create 50,000 jobs by the end of 2012.
• Moved forward towards its goal of replacing coal fired generation by the end of 2014. Compared to 2003, Ontario has reduced its use of coal-fired power by 90%. In October 2010, the province closed four coal-fired power units, four years ahead of schedule.In total, Ontario has shut down eight of 19 coal units; the remaining units will close by the end of 2014.

For more information on the FIT Review process, please see the press release below and at the following link: http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/fit-and-microfit-program/2-year-fit-review/