Ontario offers to buy homemade electricity
adam
CBC News
Ontario is offering to subsidize homeowners and businesses that switch
to renewable power sources like solar panels or wind turbines.
It's the first program of its type in the country and Premier Dalton
McGuinty says he hopes the plan will see a quarter of a million homes
powered by renewable energy within a decade.
While Canada is far behind European countries like Germany in providing
renewable energy, McGuinty says the incentives are the most progressive
in North America.
"We're taking a bold new step that will allow hundreds of small, local
renewable energy producers to get into the energy market," he said.
The government will pay an inflated price for the energy for 20 years
to help make the project attractive: 42 cents a kilowatt-hour for solar
and 11 cents for wind, biomass, or small hydroelectric projects.
McGuinty expects entrepreneurs and many of the province's farmers will
get involved. "You know what we're doing, we're creating a market for a
new cash crop in Ontario."
Environmentalist David Suzuki praised the move, but there are skeptics,
including Energy Probe's Tom Adams.
"I think it's really about spin and press releases," he said. "It's not
really about serving consumers with renewable energy at a reasonable
price."
Asparagus farmer Tim Berry, who's also a small shareholder in a solar
energy company in Cambridge, Ont., says he' been thinking of putting
solar panels on his barn for years. The new incentives announced, he
says, may make it worth his while.
"It's changed the game tremendously, so we're looking at the economics
of it. But where we were yesterday and where we are today, it's put
Ontario at the forefront."
The program is also being pitched to homeowners, but the upfront costs
- as much as $30,000 - are substantial. Experts say it could take
20 years before homeowners pay off their initial investment and turn a
profit.