LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Nation Rise windfarm

Seaway News Staff
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Nation Rise windfarm
Jim McDonell in his office (Nick Seebruch/ Seaway News).

To the Editor:

Our government was elected on a promise to reduce the costs of electricity for the people of Ontario. One of our first actions as government was to wind down over 750 surplus renewable contracts to avoid long-term costs and save $790 million.

Last fall, we repealed the Green Energy Act to ensure that expensive renewable energy projects would never be forced on to unwilling communities again, and returned local decision-making powers to municipalities.

The Nation Rise Project, like many industrial wind farms across rural Ontario, was a project forced upon the people of North Stormont by the previous Wynne government.  The Liberal Government made it their mission to expand renewable energy at an unsustainable rate, resulting in unaffordable contracts for surplus power.

Moving forward, we have taken a responsible approach by winding down renewable energy contracts that have not achieved key Development Milestones (KDM).  The Nation Rise Wind Farm project obtained a Large Renewable Procurement contract in 2016. This project was at an advanced state of development, and had already achieved confirmation of its KDMs so it was not one of the contracts eligible for wind down. Unlike the previous Liberal government, our government is committed to respecting our taxpayer’s dollars and we cannot in good conscience, add additional costs to an already unaffordable electricity bill.

The province is ending the contracts where the costs outweigh the benefits. These actions will ensure that ratepayers are not paying for electricity that we don’t need, at a cost that we cannot afford.

Regards,

Jim McDonell

Member of Provincial Parliament

Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry

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[…] “The Nation Rise Project, like many industrial wind farms across rural Ontario, was a project forced upon the people of North Stormont by the previous Wynne government.  The Liberal Government made it their mission to expand renewable energy at an unsustainable rate, resulting in unaffordable contracts for surplus power,” wrote McDonell in a Letter to the Editor. […]