[Letter to Editor published June 26, 2014 in the County Weekly News]

Dear Editor

Your June 12th op-ed piece (Wind energy emerging as electricity option with best ratepayer value) by Robert Hornung for the County Sustainability Group (CSG) is what one should expect from Hornung’s employer, the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).

In his article, Hornung cites a flawed “independent” study prepared for CanWEA by Power Advisory of Boston, that was authored primarily by a former executive from the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) who had responsibility for negotiating lucrative 20 year contracts for CanWEA corporate members.

The facts are that in 2012, when only about 2,000 MWs of wind energy were up and running, wind energy accounted for more than 5% ($700 million) of the total costs while generating only 3% of Ontario’s electricity production. (When 5,600 MWs of wind energy plants are operating in accordance with Ontario’s revised…