December 6, 2016

Residents of Nation Township and North Stormont recently gathered signatures on a petition and letters demanding the Ontario government halt the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process permanently (it is currently “suspended”), cancel the LRP I contracts awarded for five wind power projects earlier this year, and cancel contracts for wind power projects that have not yet been built.

The Premier of Ontario recently admitted that her government’s energy policies were a “mistake” that resulted in higher costs for Ontario citizens.

The Ontario Association of Food Banks recently released its Hunger report, placing the blame for Ontario’s “shockingly high levels of food bank use” on the electricity bills, and other factors. Hydro rates have increased 3.5 times and “off-peak” rates are now eight times what they were. Remedies proposed by the Wynne government, the association says, are a “drop in the bucket.”

The petitions filed at Queen’s Park yesterday refer to the high electricity rates and growing poverty and also to the fact that the Wynne government, specifically Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault, says it now has a “robust supply of power” for the years ahead.

So why pay out the millions for these new contracts, for power we don’t need, say the residents.

MPPs Jim McDonell and Grant Crack (the LIBERAL MPP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) read the petitions in the Legislature yesterday, while representatives of Save The Nation/Sauvons La Nation and Concerned Citizens of North Stormont watched from the Gallery.

A story on the petition may be found here.

Here are the details for the five contracts awarded by the IESO last spring.

Project name	Capacity MW	20-yr cost $	Max payout liability $
Otter Creek	50	218 million	500,000
Romney Wind	60	261 million	520,000
Strong Breeze	57	250 million	515,000
Eastern Fields (Nation Twp)	32	139 million	464,000
Nation Rise (N Stormont)	100	436 million	600,000

Source: data from IESO contracts