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Ontario first to subsidize solar electric power
Ontario has become Canada's first province to offer cash incentives for homeowners or businesses that install solar electric power generators.
Premier Dalton McGuinty made the announcement Tuesday, which environmentalists lauded as the way of the future.
"We're taking a bold, new step that will allow hundreds of small, local, renewable energy producers to get into the energy market," McGuinty said at a press conference in Cambridge, alongside Energy Minister Donna Cansfield.
"We're setting a fixed price or a standard offer for small, renewable energy projects."
Under the program, the Ontario Power Authority will buy power produced by wind farms and other renewable methods at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The fixed price for solar energy will be 42 cents per kilowatt-hour, and all the electricity generated will be sold to the local utility.
The province estimates the initiative, called the Standard Offer Program, will add as much as 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to Ontario's power grid over the next 10 years.
That amount could power about 250,000 homes.
But setting up a solar-powered system may prove to be expensive for a typical homeowner as it can cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
Selling back the power would generate about $1,500 a year for the homeowner who would then buy their power from the utility at the current rate, which is now less than six cents a kilowatt-hour.
It could take as long as 20 years to break even. However, the systems are built to last 40 years or longer, which could mean plenty of time to profit in the long run.
In 2004, the governing Liberals committed to generating five per cent, or 1,350 megawatts, of electricity through renewable sources by 2007.
"Encouraging communities to develop more renewable electricity, will help clean up our air, create jobs and contribute to our long-term prosperity," McGuinty said in a statement.
Renowned environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki was alongside McGuinty for the announcement and he said that the initiative was a step in the right direction.
He also spoke out against any provincial plans to expand Ontario's nuclear energy capabilities.
"There's too much emphasis on the supply side," Suzuki said.
"Let's see where the Canadian public is able to become much more efficient and conserve. That's where the opportunity lies at this time - not nuclear." |