One of Doug Ford’s first acts as premier of Ontario just days after taking office on June 29, 2018, was cancelling 759 renewable energy projects for a total of 462.5 MW, including the half-finished White Pines wind farm by wpd Canada in Prince Edward County that had been under development for nearly a decade.
The Ford government spent an estimated $231M to cancel the green energy contracts – including an estimated $100M for the White Pines Project alone, saying it would save ratepayers some $790M by not paying for power the province didn’t need.
In 2023, facing a potential doubling of demand by 2050, the Ford government has about-faced and plans to procure 5,000 MW of renewable energy projects by 2034 to “ensure long-term affordability” as electricity demand forecasts to rise 60% by 2050.
- 2018: We’re cancelling 462.5 MW of “unnecessary and wasteful energy” energy projects
- 2023: We’re ordering 2,000 MW of renewable energy projects, “ensuring long-term affordability for Ontario’s ratepayers and businesses“
January 12, 2016 – MPP Todd Smith says Prince Edward County (PEC) is the wrong place for industrial wind turbines on YouTube channel of powerful anti-wind farm advocacy group that raised $1.5M for legal funds
July 13, 2018 – Ford government cancels 758 renewable energy contracts
TORONTO — Ontario ratepayers will benefit from $790 million in savings thanks to the Government of Ontario’s decision to cancel and wind down 758 renewable energy contracts, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Greg Rickford announced today.
“We clearly promised we would cancel these unnecessary and wasteful energy projects as part of our plan to cut hydro rates by 12 per cent for families, farmers and small businesses,” said Rickford in making the announcement. “In the past few weeks, we have taken significant steps toward keeping that promise.”
All of the cancelled projects have not reached project development milestones. Terminating the projects at this early stage will maximize benefits for ratepayers.
Rickford also confirmed that the government intends to introduce a legislative amendment that, if passed, will protect hydro consumers from any costs incurred from the cancellation. Even after all costs are accounted for, ratepayers can expect to benefit from $790 million in savings from this one decision.
“For 15 years, Ontario families and businesses have been forced to pay inflated hydro prices, so the government could spend on unnecessary and expensive energy schemes,” said Rickford. “Those days are over.”
Ontario to Cancel Energy Contracts to Bring Hydro Bills Down
July 25, 2018 – Ford government introduces White Pines Wind Project Termination Act to allow the termination
Cancellation of the 18.5MW German-owned White Pines wind project in PEC, where 4 out of 9 wind turbines had already been constructed, cost $100M in compensatory damages from the Ontario government in addition to the money already paid for the energy project.
If members opposite wonder why I don’t fear contractual chill, it’s because the proponent in this case has never honoured its agreements with the government of Ontario,
This project deserves to die. It deserves to die exactly as it should die today – publicly and in front of the whole province.
They’ve had construction crews working over the weekend and trucks heading into the county at all hours to try and complete construction before this Legislature can conclude its work on Bill 2…. And they are nine white elephants. They will do nothing to help this province fight climate change—absolutely nothing. Their total capacity now, after previously being 60 megawatts, is down to about 18 megawatts of power
You can also expect us to act to ensure that going forward, local communities are better protected from having these kinds of projects imposed on them against their will.
MPP Todd Smith
The cancellation prompted Germany’s ambassador to Canada to comment that international business relations were being harmed, and that European investors would be wary of proceeding with future projects in the province due to a capricious government:
Obviously, every incoming government has the right to change policy direction
But to have a unilateral cancellation pushed through by law that way is unsettling for the company, but is also something that will unsettle other potential investors.
Ontario has always had a very very strong reputation for being very trustworthy, for being a good place you can do business
So we appeal to the Ontario government to rethink this because not only German investors, but other investors will look at what’s happening in the White Pines case.
Sabine Sparwasser, Germany’s ambassador to Canada
Smith’s response to the cancellation of the turbines:
It’s very satisfying for sure. We’ve been able to act on a lot of different issues. To have this in the this act is very satisfying not just for me but for the people of Prince Edward County who have been fighting this project for a number of years, who thought it was dead a number of times just to see it live on.
The way that our government has approached this is very straightforward. The company needs to understand we are serious about this and any work they’re doing will be a cost they incur down the road or will be money that they’re responsible for
The best advice for the company is to honour the will of the government standing up for the will of the people,
Previously, as an energy critic, I had the opportunity over the last three years to speak with many members of the renewables industry in Ontario. They told me if the government had continued the path it was on with proper procurement and a market-based approach to introducing renewables to the energy grid, we’d probably end up with the sane number of projects we have now
This uncompetitive, subsidy-based approach was not in the busy interest, clearly, of the electricity customer in Ontario. It created a gold rush that was completely unsustainable.
It’s nowhere near a gas plant scandal. The McGuinty governments and Wynne governments back in the day decided to make these companies whole. They ignored the advice of experts who said they should have legislated an end to the contracts. They decided to make these companies whole while allowing them to build and they also honoured power production agreements.
MPP Todd Smith
This is a project that residents of Prince Edward County had been fighting against since it was proposed
MPP Todd Smith
August 3, 2018 – German wind energy company says PEC perfect for turbines
Prince Edward County is one of the most abundant regions for wind in Ontario, making it a perfect location for the turbines
Ian Macrae, president of wpd Canada — the German company that was building the wind farm
July 3, 2019 – Ontario government requests feedback on the decision to close the White Pines Wind Project
We decided to make a new regulation to require that the closure of the White Pines Wind Facility is carried out in a way that is protective of human health and the environment.
In Ontario, you need a renewable energy approval for large wind, solar or bio-energy projects.
The White Pines Wind Project Termination Act, 2018, came into force on July 25, 2018. It revoked the Feed-in-Tariff contract awarded by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO); the renewable energy approval issued for the project by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and the permit issued for the project under the Endangered Species Act, 2007, by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The renewable energy approval issued by MECP included requirements for constructing, operating and decommissioning the facility at the end of its useful life, including restoring lands affected by the project. Because the renewable energy approval has been revoked, the MECP has made a new regulation under the Environmental Protection Act and an associated technical closure document, to govern the closure of the facility in a way that is protective of human health and the environment.
The new regulation and technical closure document include requirements for the proponent, White Pines Wind Incorporated (the proponent), to follow to safely and securely dismantle and take down the nine fully or partially constructed wind turbines.
The documents include measures that will protect the local community and surrounding wildlife and cover the following general themes:
- Pre-dismantling activities;
- Equipment dismantling and removal;
- Site restoration;
- Stormwater management;
- In-water works;
- Water takings;
- Necessary precautions to avoid impacts on the Blanding’s Turtle;
- Restoration of natural and cultural heritage features;
- Archaeological resources;
- Emergency response and communications plan;
- Consultation/Notification;
- Record keeping; and
- Handling of complaints.
The documents also allow for consideration of existing agreements between landowners and the proponent and require that the proponent conduct monitoring at the project site after it is decommissioned.
Effects of consultation
We received comments from a range of interested stakeholders, including members of the public, representatives of the proponent, local municipal officials and advocacy groups.
Comments received during consultation that were specifically about the content of the regulation and the technical closure document resulted in the following changes:
- Comments relating to timing of the decommissioning activities.
- The two-year time limit for the closure of the facility was removed from the regulation since it was determined that compensation provided for under the under the White Pines Wind Project Termination Act, 2018 could provide for adequate milestones
- Comments about greater local oversight of decommissioning activities.
- The proponent is required to provide draft plans and decommissioning reports to Prince Edward County as well as MECP prior to implementation of those activities.
- Comments about the decommissioning work and restoration of lands to their previous state being more damaging to the environment than leaving the facility in place.
- Clarified wording in the new regulation and associated technical closure document regarding measures that require the proponent to decommission the project in a way that will protect the local community and surrounding wildlife, including necessary precautions to avoid impacts on the Blanding’s Turtle.
- Clarified wording in the new regulation and associated technical document related to the taking down and removal of wind turbines and consideration for agreements between the proponent and landowners to allow project components (e.g. turbine foundations and access roads) to remain.
December 4, 2019 – Ford government overrides Environmental Review Tribunal finding, revokes approval for 100 MW Nation Rise Wind Farm in response to community group
In May 2018, the Director of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks issued an approval for the Nation Rise Wind Farm, which included conditions to monitor the impacts to bats. A community advocacy group Concerned Citizens of North Stormont (CCNS) then filed an appeal to the Environmental Review Tribunal (“ERT”), citing concerns over harms to wildlife. The ERT found, citing two experts, that the project would not cause serious and irreversible harm to bats and that CCNS had not met the onus of proving that the project would cause serious and irreversible harm to bats and dismissed the appeal.
The Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Jeff Yurek then overruled the ERT and revoked the approval for a 29 turbine 100 megawatt project in the Township of North Stormont, near Ottawa that had been under construction since May 2019.
I disagree with the Tribunal’s conclusions with respect to the degree of harm that will gbe caused to local bat species by the project. I am therefore altering hte [ERT] decision based on my conclusion that the project will cause serious and irreversible harm to bats and I revoke the approval.
Letter to Margaret Benke from Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
December 6, 2019 – Ford government chose to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to get nothing – retired electricity sector insider
We had a choice of paying hundreds of millions of dollars up-front and a lifetime of carrying costs on debt to get nothing, or paying a minuscule amount annually to create jobs and economic growth for communities across Ontario.
The government, on our behalf has chosen to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to get nothing.
The people that are most impacted are investors and small communities across Ontario. The investors aren’t faceless corporations, they were Farmers, Aboriginals and Municipalities. The projects meant hundreds of jobs and economic growth in our communities for the next 20 years. Instead we will have a few hundred million dollars of debt and a bucket of nothing to show for it.
A Perspective on Ontario’s Cancelled Renewable Energy Contracts – Derek Hughes, retired Engineer and former electricity sector insider with more than 35 years experience in the industry.
May 13, 2020 – Ontario Superior Court overturns Ford government’s decision to cancel the Nation Rise Wind Farm
For the reasons that follow, we find that the Minister’s decision was unreasonable and that the process by which he reached the decision was procedurally unfair. Therefore, we order that his decision be quashed. In view of these findings, we do not find it necessary to deal with the argument on bias. We also find that this is one of those exceptional cases where the matter should not be remitted to the Minister for redetermination.
…
The decision does not meet the requirements of transparency, justification and intelligibility, as the Minister has failed to adequately explain his decision. Furthermore, the outcome is not within a reasonable range, given the governing statutory provisions, the facts as established in the record, and the numerous deficiencies in the decision. Therefore, the decision should be quashed.
June 13, 2023 – Ontario Court of Appeal finds that Ford government intentionally destroyed potentially relevant evidence to affect litigation with another cancelled wind farm: this one in the Lake Ontario Lakebed near Main Duck Island in Prince Edward Country by Trillium Power Wind Corporation
Applying the correct analytical lens leads to the conclusion that spoliation occurred: there was a deliberate destruction of potentially relevant evidence from which the reasonable inference can be drawn that the destruction was done to affect litigation, including the present litigation.
Trillium Power Wind Corporation v. Ontario, 2023 ONCA 412
March 2024 – “Business in Ontario” ads spotted in Frankfurt, Germany airport
One Redditor suggested it might be for “damage control”:
So this ad that you see in Germany isn’t so much “promoting Ontario” as it is doing damage control for the harm to our international reputation as a stable jurisdiction in which to conduct business operations – harm which was directly caused by the OPC’s ideologically motivated hostility towards renewable energy projects.
August 28, 2024 – Ford government does an about-face, plans to procure 5,000 MW of renewable energy projects by 2034 to “ensure long-term affordability” as electricity demand forecasts to rise 60% by 2050
Ford government does an about-face and now wants more renewable projects, most of which will be wind power:
With energy demand growing rapidly, our government is stepping up by advancing our largest energy procurement in our history. Our ‘all-of-the-above’ energy resource approach will expand access to affordable electricity to families and businesses across Ontario while opposing the regressive carbon tax
Unlike the former government who imposed energy projects on unwilling communities, we are putting municipalities in the driver’s seat as we expand energy generation. We are delivering more affordable and reliable energy while protecting prime agricultural areas.
Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Electrification
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