Ontario announces cancellation of renewable energy contracts
July 13, 2018
The Ontario government just announced cancellation of renewable energy contracts for which significant contractual milestones had not yet been met.
The move will save $790 million from being added to electricity generation costs, and passed on to consumers’ electricity or hydro bills.
The contracts to be cancelled likely include the five newest wind power projects, which were awarded contracts by the IESO in 2016, and which have not yet been given final approval. One, the “Nation Rise” project in North Stormont, did get a Renewable Energy Approval on May 4, just days before the write period for the recent election. That project is being appealed by a community group, The Concerned Citizens of North Stormont, a community group member of the Wind Concerns Ontario coalition.
“This was the right decision,” says Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario. “There were significant environmental and health concerns inherent in each of these projects, the communities did not want them but were being forced to have these industrial power projects, and the costs would be yet more burden on Ontario citizens.”
Health effects of the noise produced by the huge wind power generators is a concern especially, as Wilson says, “because there are literally thousands of reports of excessive wind turbine noise across Ontario that are to this day unresolved, and the ministry under the previous government was not even responding to complaints from Ontario families. Staff noted adverse health effects in documents released to us, but no action was taken.
Given this evidence and these serious concerns, it is a good decision not to add to the existing problems with how wind power was implemented in Ontario.”
Basic Feed-in-Tariff Contract Costs[1]
| Name Plate Capacity (MW) | Annual Cost ($M) | 20 Year Cost ($M) | Annual Cost Per Household ($) | |
| Operating Turbines | 4,936 | $1,693 | $33,856 | $352 |
| Under Construction | 393 | $ 128 | $ 2,567 | $ 27 |
| LRP I Projects (Pre-Construction) | 299 | $ 65 | $ 1,307 | $ 14 |
| Total | 5,628 | $1,886 | $37,730 | $393 |
[1] Estimated costs are based on FIT Contract rates of $135 per MW and average costs for the RFP projects of $89.5 per MW based estimated actual electricity production.
contact@windconcernsontario.ca
ajmarciniak 
Comments
Thanks for your continued hard work Jane. It must gratifying to see some positive action on the part of our new government. I’m very, very happy to see it.
I guess we just stole back our money they stole from us…. or at least some of it…. congratulations to all who fought… donated… supported… reported…. or had the sense to dig in and make a stand… you all have made a huge differance in alot of peoples lives and for that i am eternally grateful….
Thank you All…
Well presented Jane and THANK-YOU doesn’t seem enough.
With all the actual, conclusive, irrefutable, undeniable, detrimental data that has amassed over the years, it is hard for me to comprehend how anyone cannot understand how much time and money and material has been lost with this green gone wrong fiasco.
The harm done cannot be corrected!
Now the embellishments and deceit of the so-called facts needs to be recognized and stopped.
The battle has been won but the war continues.
Stan Thayer