Under the aegis of the Green Energy Act, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) formally launched the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program in late September. The FIT program encourages the development of small and medium scale renewable energy projects across the province. Not only have the rules and regulations for these smaller projects been further streamlined, but the projects are also offered premium-rates over a 20 year fixed contract. These incentives thus reduce uncertainties for project developers. The program also offers an additional incentive for First Nations and community-based projects.

In order to facilitate the rapid uptake of renewable energy, the Act introduced several measures such as obligating electric utilities to provide priority grid access to renewables-based generation plants; establishment of a Green Energy Debt Finance Program and a Community Power Corporation; the adoption of smart grid technologies, allowing the grid to transition to a distributed-generation model as opposed to a centralized model; and streamlining regulatory and approvals processes that enable rapid but prudent development of energy projects across the province.

The Green Energy Act, tabled in February 2009, was finally passed in to law in May 2009. The intent of the bill is to make Ontario a leader in the development and deployment of renewable energy. The Act will help Ontario to deliver on its goals of installing 10 GW of new renewable energy plants, 6 GW of conservation and 1.5 GW of clean distributed energy by 2015, over and above the 2003 baseline.

The introduction of the Act and the FIT program will thus catapult Ontario to being a leader in North America in the field of renewable energy policy. The Act will not only increase clean distributed energy and conservation, but create thousands of green collared jobs, increase economic prosperity, provide energy security, and reduce GHG emissions.

By Jimmy Desai .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)