Bay Today, June 12, 2015
The North Bay district Chamber of Commerce says the province needs to take a long, hard, business-like look at its green energy plan.
“Once again, as we have seen energy prices soar in Ontario and we are seeing more and more manufacturers pull up roots and relocate elsewhere like the northern States or Quebec for this very reason. Energy costs are becoming cost prohibitive for doing business in Ontario and the government needs to recognize that all businesses big or small are no longer able to remain competitive.
“The Government continues to move forward with more Feed In Tariff (FIT) contracts, that only add to the global adjustment rate and yet Ontario continues to over-produce energy. We recognize the current FIT contracts cannot be changed, as they are long term agreements for those producing wind and solar energy.
“The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution to take this one step further; the board asks the government to cease entering into any new contracts at this time to do a proper cost/benefit analysis on energy in Ontario.
“While the concept of moving towards more green energy is appropriate, the reality is the program has not seen any increase in green energy and has only added costs to the ratepayers of Ontario.
“President Jake Lacourse stated “energy costs are second to only labour costs in Ontario and as such businesses need to make hard decisions in operations to remain competitive. If businesses leave for cheaper labour and energy to other locations, the current energy production needs to be spread across those other businesses and residential taxpayers to cover the costs and again the rates go higher. It is a vicious circle, yet since we can’t store energy and/or determine when the sun shines or the wind blows, we need to pay for the energy when it’s produced.”
The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce recommends that the Provincial Government:
– Put a moratorium on any and all new renewable energy contracts immediately, in the province of Ontario;
– Do an appropriate cost/benefit analysis;*
– Identify the current risks that energy costs have on current business and those that have relocated out of province;
– Devise a plan to ensure energy costs are competitive for business;
– Recognize that as businesses leave Ontario, the global adjustment still needs to be paid by the remaining businesses and residents of Ontario, yet is already unaffordable for many.
“It needs to be noted that these businesses employ the residents and both are struggling to keep up with the costs of energy” stated President Lacourse.
*Wind Concerns Ontario Editor’s note: two Auditors General of Ontario have called for a cost-benefit analysis of Ontario’s “green energy” program, and prior to the Green Energy Act in 2009, over 70 Ontario municipalities demanded a cost-benefit analysis or impact studies before the legislation was put forward. The Government of Ontario to this day has never done any kind of economic analysis of its policy.
6 Comments
John Vincent
Finally, some body in power talks some sense
Pat Cusack
Here is a letter that my husband is sending to the media today about the Pelee Island Ferry story.
“Our Ontario government is to be congratulated for finding new ways to conserve energy. Contracting to build the new Pelee ferry offshore ensures that extra energy will be a available to sell at a loss to the U.S.A. If they concentrate they might be able to shut down the rest of our industry and save even more energy.”
Melanie Greenham
I built solar farms for a living. Not only are the contracts entered into an abysmal agreement fro ratepayers, but the companies bid on these projects with a labour forecast at union rates then they go through temp employment agencies and hire unskilled workers that cause half million dollar mistakes at a time. Many of these workers (not all or even half) partake in illegal drugs and alcohol while on the solar farms and/or operating equipment. I saw an accident investigator for Hydro One get fired when it was found out he staged a fake work accident in order to get his brother in law benefits for the the broken leg he sustained at the bar 6 hours previously. The actual work to build wind and solar farms needs to be assessed from top to bottom. In the past 4 years, 2 of the farms I’ve built are still not connected to the grid, and one farm has been built, dismantled, built and dismantled and built again (Prescott, Ont) because of inexperience and short cuts. And the ecological damage caused during construction is devastating. The icing on the cake for me was when I was told to stand by a pole and look pretty for 2 hours, then get fired for becoming pregnant with the child my husband and I tried for 17 yrs to have. No benefits, no nothing. If you are smart, or a workhorse you can work yourself out of a job on those farms.
Barbara
Any business planning on moving to the central and/or the northeastern states should look at the map of where the U.S. power plant closures are now and will be.
Perhaps these business should look elsewhere to relocate.
Donna
Maybe installing all these industrial wind turbines isn’t such a clean renewable engery as originally thought. They avoid the provincial parks, however they are consuming all the other crown lands, but they’ve also approached private property owners. These private property land owners have been approached with contracts including a gauge order and these contracts can range from 20-50 years. It is the same thing as pimping out our country of Canada to another country; like the usa. People need to sit up and pay attention before we have no farmlands, pristine countryside, clean water, animals both big and small left once these and many other lands are gone. Once they are gone, they take decades to replenish, who and what will be left for all the future generations to come. Please help stop this before it’s too late. Kathleen Wynne needs to stop distroying our home and native land. After all, it’s not only concerning her.
John Vincent
Well said, but a good first step would be to get the Wynne gag orders off the news media. The rest of the population isn’t getting it and until they do nothing will be done. I spoke to a small group last Friday night about the subject. They really had no idea what it was all about and they certainly weren’t inclined to raise a ruckus over the Green Energy nonsense. The response was ” well what can we do about it anyway”