In Canada, Ontario's Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, Greg Rickford has announced that Ontario's Government for the People has passed the 2018 Green Energy Repeal Act, which repeals the 2009 Green Energy Act."The Green Energy Repeal Act eliminates a piece of legislation that introduced disastrous changes to Ontario's energy system that led to rising electricity rates for families and businesses," said Minister Rickford.
According to a statement, certain Green Energy Act (GEA) provisions will be re-introduced under other existing legislation. These include provisions related to energy efficiency and conservation under the Electricity Act, 1998 in order to continue long-standing initiatives that provide energy consumers with information and tools to lower their energy costs.
Provisions that will be re-introduced include the current GEA provisions related to energy and water efficiency standards, customer access to energy data, energy and water reporting and benchmarking and broader public sector energy reporting.
The Green Energy Repeal Act eliminates a piece of legislation that introduced disastrous changes to Ontario’s energy system that led to rising electricity rates for families and businesses. By repealing this act, we’re restoring planning decisions to municipalities that were stripped by the previous government and ensuring local voices have the final say on energy projects in their communities, said Minister Rickford.
Amendments to the Planning Act and the Environmental Protection Act will:
- Restore municipal planning authority related to the siting of renewable energy generation facilities, and restrict appeals on municipal refusals and non-decisions; and,
- Enhance the government’s authority to make regulations prohibiting the issuance of Renewable Energy Approvals where the need for the electricity has not been demonstrated.
The Ontario government has committed to lowering hydro bills by 12 percent. The Green Energy Repeal Act gives the government the authority to stop approvals for wasteful energy projects where the need for electricity has not been clearly demonstrated.
Along with repealing the Green Energy Act, the new legislation gives municipalities the final say over the siting of future energy projects in their communities. Every action the government takes to reduce the cost of electricity will result in savings passed along to electricity customers. Actions taken to date include:
- Amending the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, to require the Ontario Energy Board to exclude any compensation paid to Hydro One’s Chief Executive Officer and other executives from customer rates for Hydro One.
- Cancelling more than 750 “wasteful” energy contracts to save CA$790 million for Ontario electricity customers.
- Establishing a new leadership team at Hydro One that will consider Ontario’s electricity customers in all of its planning. This will lead to a more efficient and affordable electricity system over time.
AMO is pleased that by repealing measures of the Green Energy Act, Bill 34- Green Energy Repeal Act, restores local planning powers. Renewable energy projects should be guided by the ambitions and visions of communities and the people who live there. They should not be imposed, said Mayor Jamie McGarvey, Town of Parry Sound and President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).
