Hudak calls for end to FIT programs as Region considers applying for its own FIT contract
In response to new Regional Niagara Councillors are considering applying for a MicroFIT contract, which would bring in provincial funds through solar panels on region-owned buildings, MPP Tim Hudak has called for an end to the highly-subsidized program in a letter to MOE Minister Bob Chiarelli.
Friday January 23, 2014
Hon. Bob Chiarelli
Minister of Energy
900 Bay Street, 4th Floor
Hearst Block
Toronto ON M7A 2E1
Dear Minister Chiarelli;
Mr. Chiarelli you have been told by economists, industry associations, the Provincial Auditor General (repeatedly) and countless small businesses and hundreds of thousands of Ontario men and women that your government’s Green Energy Act and expensive subsidies for wind and solar projects through the Feed-In-Tarriff (FIT) programs are disastrous for Ontario taxpayers and have succeeded only in driving up hydro costs and driving away jobs. The time is now to stop throwing good money after bad by continuing these programs.
As the Auditor General pointed out hydro rates have skyrocketed over the past decade due in large part to unaffordable contracts for wind turbines and solar panels. Every time someone signs a lucrative contract with the province for a guaranteed feed-in-tariff, Ontarians see the corresponding increase on their hydro bills to pay for those overly rich deals. With a new wind farm approved in West Lincoln Ontarians are about to be hit once again with higher hydro rates to pay for unnecessary and unwanted wind turbine power.
Let me tell you about a situation in Niagara that would be amusing if it didn’t have the real world impact of increasing hydro rates, making people poorer and costing us jobs. Niagara Regional politicians recognize FIT as a bad program but are contemplating signing up for it in fear that others will take advantage of the program if they don’t (http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/01/08/politicians-prostitutes-for-the-money). It can be compared to being offered a free ATM, but the problem is someone has to fill it with cash and Ontario taxpayers ran out of cash long ago.
When other levels of government or well-connected businesses try to cash in on those guaranteed energy rates, as Niagara Region is currently considering, it only digs the hole Ontarians find themselves in deeper. A MicroFIT contract may, temporarily, put more money in the Region’s coffers, but there is only one ratepayer who ultimately bears the burden of higher hydro rates.
The solution to the increased cost of living and working in Ontario due to some of the most expensive hydro costs in North America is not to get more businesses and government institutions at the trough. The solution is to let hydro rates reflect the market value, not unaffordably high subsidies.
Instead of this increasingly ridiculous game that is costing us money and job opportunities, just end FIT subsidies altogether, once and for all.