Saving Ontario’s Rural Communities from Energy “Grid Lock” – Green Energy Act

Ontario’s Green Energy Act Launched

June 2, 2008 – Frustration is growing in parts of rural Ontario
where farmers, municipalities, First Nations, community power projects
and locally owned green energy projects are unable to fully contribute
to Ontario’s green electricity future.

The Ontario
Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA), with leading trade associations,
manufacturers, environmental groups, First Nations, power developers,
farmers and landowners, is calling for an Ontario Green Energy Act.

The
Ontario Green Energy Act will contribute to the achievement of Premier
McGuinty’s vision of a prosperous and green Ontario. It will help
reduce greenhouse gases and pollution, while ensuring a secure and
stable domestic electricity supply and good jobs for Ontarians.

The
Green Energy Act aims to create the best policy framework to ensure
power conservation and rapid provision and deployment of renewable
energy.

It will mean that the lights stay on, that rates
remain reasonable, that cost overruns on nuclear plants are limited,
and that local residents can actually access the grid they have paid
for to both sell and buy power.

The Green Energy Act campaign welcomes the participation of citizens, businesses and the public sector to:

• Reinforce the commitment to conservation and renewable energy
• Establish
  a ‘roadmap’ to conservation and green energy and address gaps in the
  present plans including removing barriers to ensure renewables get on
  line
• Take advantage of the clean slate that is Ontario’s
  electricity system, which requires an estimated $60 billion to expand
  and reinforce the grid and bring on new generation
• Identify our opportunities and copy best practices to capitalize on them, just as we did with the RESOP

“The
province became a leader in North America by implementing the Renewable
Energy Standard Offer. Ontarians with power line access can produce and
sell clean power to the grid,” says Ted Cowan of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture. “For example, a dairy farm with 80 milking cows can
earn about $50,000 a year extra by making electricity with the manure.”

“Despite
the Ontario Power Authority’s recent acknowledgment that the RESOP was
meant for communities, it is clear there is not much line capacity left
and that increasingly local Community Power is locked out.” Said Harold
Flaming, Executive Director with The Ontario Rural Council.

“Even
with a real resource, and the perfect program, there is almost no line
capacity left in most of rural Ontario. Rural Ontarians want to
participate, we need integrated solutions for the sector, addressing
the full economic, and ecological costs.”

Deborah
Doncaster, Executive Director of the Community Power Fund adds that,
“The time has come for Ontario’s policy, the full range of electricity
and power focused agencies’ and the grid to evolve in a manner that
benefits all players rather than pitting Community Power and the
private sector against one another for access to the extremely limited
transmission capacity.”

Michael Fox with the First Nations
Energy Alliance adds that, “First Nations and other Community Power
groups as well as private developers and manufacturers are working
together to secure Ontario’s green energy future.”

“Ontario
is about to spend $60 billion on its electricity system that has not
had significant renewal for over 20 years. Let’s be wise and creative.
Let’s draw a roadmap to reach Premier McGuinty’s vision, and provide
the correct signals to the agencies of the Crown so everyone benefits.”

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visit www.GreenEnergyAct.ca

For more information, please contact Kristopher Stevens at (416) 977-4441, ext. 42 or GEA@ontario-sea.org.