June 13, 2018
Now that Ontario’s election is over, and there is a majority government in place, plenty of political watchers are commenting on what happened to create such a dramatic change in Ontario government.
One factor that comes up is Ontario’s disaster plan for renewable energy — and by that, we mean WIND — and the effect it had on Ontario consumers’ electricity bills.
Two Auditors General told the government it was paying too much for renewable power, as much as twice the rate in other jurisdictions. Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk (who has had many problems with accountability and governance with the Wynne Liberal government) said Ontario consumers overpaid by more than $9 billion.
That’s not just a few dollars extra on the electricity bills — that’s multiples of previous bills, so much so that “energy poverty” became a new expression in Ontario. The Association of Food Banks of Ontario put a photo of a light bulb on their 2016 hunger report.
Here are a few articles popping up that look back at the damage done to a province that was once Canada’s “economic engine”, all for an unproven ideology.
Fraser Institute: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/blogs/ontario-s-new-government-should-genuinely-reform-province-s-electricity-system
TVOntario Current Affairs https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/one-overlooked-issue-that-cost-the-liberals-the-election
Economist Jack Mintz/Financial Post http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/jack-mintz-how-a-doug-ford-government-can-make-ontario-rich-again?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1528890290
Undoing the damage of the Green Energy Act won’t be easy, writes economist and public policy professor Jack Mintz, but it has to be done if Ontario is to save itself.
Worst of all for Ontario’s rural residents, are the comments and analysis of the wind power program: in terms of environmental benefits, it was all for nothing. Industrial-scale wind power has never demonstrated a benefit in cutting CO2 emissions. In fact, the way wind power was done in Ontario is now a “black eye” for green energy all over the world, says a journal in the renewables industry.
That’s quite a legacy for one political party.
Now, we pick up the pieces.
8 Comments
Ron Hartlen
The people finally caught on: all COSTS (Dollars, Real Estate, Health, Environment, Wildlife etc) for no BENEFIT to the Environment.
While fixing this Ontario mess, we now have to keep a sharp eye on the FEDS, who are going down a generally-similar virtue-signalling path.
Ontario and Canada can not save the World from increasing CO2 emissions, (which is probably a non-issue anyway).
If the Climate were to be changing rapidly, better to get off the virtue-signalling CO2 Bandwagon and address adaptation and mitigation.
A class of bright 11-year olds could figure all this out.
Stan Thayer
So a few people made a lot of money and a lot of people lost a lot of money.
Now I can say again, I told you so!
This development will now create a new but similar exchange of wealth from the bottom up.
It is easier to understand when we realize that bankers are in charge of our power grid and corporate executives are writing their own paycheques.
The amounts borrowed cannot be paid off quickly without tremendous penalties so the financial damage will continue into the next generation.
This windmill craze will pass like the bell bottom pants but it will take decades.
Money and greed are the enemies not the windmill owners who are damned to regret.
The Ontario power grid could have been completely refurbished along with the stations for a much brighter future but the Wynne Liberals chose to ignore our advice and sell our system to the highest bidder.
It is a sad chapter in our power history!
Stan the power man
Sommer
What’s going to happen with the CPP investments in industrial scale wind in Ontario?
Stan Thayer
For the record books.
The McGuinty-Wynne government is still with us.
The Canadian nation’s capital has many high voltage substations which were built by our grandfather’s two generations ago.
Today June 19 2018 I have had to clean old parts taken from old stock to repair the Slater and NRC installations which should have been rebuilt years ago.
The Slater and NRC transformer stations have been operating at 140%+ for many years.
Now, who cares!
We do, the power workers are expected to keep the grid up regardless.
The amount of money wasted on the industrial wind turbines could have rebuilt most of the aging electrical infrastructure throughout the province of Ontario.
And I can prove that!
We will buy, borrow, make or clean up from scrap whatever it takes to keep the lights on.
Gladly spoken for all power workers!
Stan the power man
Tracy
Money, money, money….no one really gives a crap about those people who were forced to live too close to the wind turbines and experienced ill health such as stroke, dementia, heart attacks, diabetes, deterioration of bones, and DEATH from exposure to the toxic infrasound. Yes there has been many cases I’ll illness and death here in Clear Creek, Ontario. The turbines were built in 2008.
The scientific, peer reviewed, published research is there folks; it has been for many years….decades. This is not news.
The people of rural Ontario were nothing but collateral damage.
Just like the Humboldt tragedy, let’s not talk about it and it will all go away!?!
For those of us who have experienced this torturous nightmare, the damage is now with us for the rest of our lives – or whats left of it.
Go on and on about the wasted money by our Liberal government. You too will realize one day, when you are close to death, the money doesn’t really matter.
Yes I’m angry and bitter, I don’t like this. I am not one to pretend things are sunshine and rainbows when my reality is not.
Can I now expect Ontario to step up to the plate and proceed to try and make things right? This would be the right thing to do in terms of our constitution, ethics and values.
There is not enough money in the world to make up for the damage to my health, the loss of my home, my teaching career, the rift caused in my family and community – all because of the industrial wind turbine SCAM.
Somebody must pay. Some people deserve to be in jail for a very long time…Shall I name them?
Government officials and wind turbine CEO’s may think they’re golden. As with people such as Barry and Honey Sherman – who were strong Liberal supporters, things have a way of catching up with them.
Shame on Ontario.
Ontario deserves to pay for this for decades to come, because they were such a bunch of dumb arses.
Sommer
Who on earth would want their CPP investments tied to the wind industry knowing what we now know? Why are Canadians being complacent about this?
For anyone who still doesn’t realize that the rationale for these industrial scale turbines was the climate change deception, take a look at this article:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-24/martin-armstrong-30-years-global-warming-forecasts-have-all-failed
Barbara
Use of computer models? GIGO?
Catherine Mitchell
Industrial Wind turbines are intermittent, unreliable, non-dispatchable, unpredictable and require gas plants for back up. The end game is the destruction of our reliable energy system. Handed over to the rentseekers that influenve our politically elected representatives.