So the Ontario government has finally relented to some of the concerns of rural Ontarians when it comes to wind turbines.
According to a June 12 directive to the Ontario Power Authority, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli has mandated a new prioritization points system for smaller renewable-energy projects under the feed-in tariff program.
The new system allocates points for prioritizing projects according to a number of criteria. For example, a project with at least a 15-per-cent equity interest by a municipality or public-sector entity gets three points.
The same applies to ownership by aboriginal communities as well as projects in which local residents have a minimum 15-per-cent equity interest held by a co-operative. In addition, projects with a municipal council or aboriginal support resolution get two points. Proposals with no points won’t get a contract, according to the new rules.
The changes respond to long-standing complaints about the system the Ontario government set up when it implemented the Green Energy and Green Economy Act.
While the province was hoping to respond to climate change and spur business activity by introducing generous tariffs for wind and solar energy, it met significant opposition from rural communities concerned about the health and noise effects from turbines as well as negative impacts on property values.
As a result, rural voters virtually wiped the provincial Liberals from their ridings during the 2011 election.
The government has now been seeking to fix that problem through the changes to the feed-in tariff program. Critics, for example, have long said that one of the keys to overcoming opposition to wind projects is to provide for local ownership so communities see some payback from hosting the imposing turbines.
Shifting some of the focus away from larger conglomerates, then, through the new priority system is a good way of addressing the issue. Nevertheless, the government will still consider larger projects but will now do so under a competitive procurement process requiring consultations with local communities on the location of facilities rather than the feed-in tariff mechanism.
The changes are positive but they’re more likely a political solution rather than a legal one. Opposition from those closest to wind turbines will continue given the ongoing concerns about health effects and property values.
Giving municipalities more say on the location of projects addresses those issues to some extent but doesn’t resolve them fully. As a result, we’ll likely continue to see legal battles, including the one in
Wainfleet Wind Energy Inc. v. Township of Wainfleet noted on page 8 this week, over this issue.
The changes, then, will probably blunt the overwhelming resistance in some communities but not eliminate it altogether. Still, given the need to develop green energy and the ongoing debate over health effects, that’s probably as good as we can expect for the moment.
