Ontario has the most expensive electricity in North America leading to unaffordable hydro bills, manufacturing leaving the province, high unemployment and a stagnant economy. This is a serious problem and is the result of Wind Turbines; an industry that Ontario doesn’t need and never did. “Ontario is probably the worst electricity market in the world,” Pierre-Olivier Pineau, Associate Professor and Electricity Market Expert, University of Montreal HEC Business School. Ontario’s Energy Policy will affect every person in Ontario. Eleven years ago, Ontario had a vibrant energy sector that offered inexpensive electricity. It has changed dramatically since then. The following is a summary of the new energy policy that is being implemented by the Ontario Government. Supporting information is under Sources. Pictures are of wind projects in Ontario. Wolfe Island Over the next 20 years, your household will pay an additional $40,000 for electricity. The money is to pay for the cost of wind energy that will add $110,000,000,000.00 to our electrical bills. Ontario is building 6736 Wind Turbines. About 1800 turbines are built with about 4900 more to go. There are plans to accept more wind contracts in 2015. Ontario, however, already has excess electricity from water, nuclear and gas and doesn’t need energy from wind. Bruce Peninsula Ontario has the highest electricity rates in North America. It was the Liberal’s decision for Ontario to pay more for wind energy than any other province/state in N. America. Less than 3% of our electricity comes from wind, yet 50% of our bill pays for the Liberal wind energy costs. Ontario hydro consumers pay for a hydro debt that was paid off in 2010. The 10% clean energy rebate on your hydro bill is charged to Ontario tax payers. Ontario is the only province/state that charges a tax (HST) on hydro. Ontario is the only province/state that charges delivery and regulatory fees. Your hydro rates will continue to increase every May and October to pay for wind energy. In 2004, you paid 4.7 cents per kilowatt hour. Today you pay 15-23 cents per kilowatt hour. Check your hydro bill; divide the total (including HST) by your usage. Compare our rates to: 4.8 cents in Montreal, 5.45 cents in Chicago and 8.12 cents in Detroit. Monthly Usage Cost Comparison 1699 kw hours will cost in Ontario, $210; Montreal, $82; Chicago, $93; Detroit, $138. 288 kw hours will cost in Ontario, $ 79; Montreal, $14; Chicago, $16; Detroit, $24. (The less hydro you use, the higher the percentage of delivery & regulatory charges; resulting in a higher rate per kw hour.) Shelburne Manufacturing is leaving Ontario and new manufacturing is not coming. Key reasons include expensive electricity and limited opportunities. To name a few: Caterpiller (2 plants), United Steel. Heinz, Bicks, International Trucking, General Motors, Navistar, Kellogg’s, John Deer, Lance Bakeries, Kraft Foods, GE Electromotive Plant. Large manufacturers are seeing their hydro costs increasing by $3-10 million a year. NOVA Chemicals says the cost of power is critical in its decision to locate a multi-billion-dollar polyethylene expansion in Sarnia Ontario. Their alternative is the U.S. Gulf Coast where hydro rates are a fraction our rates. Almost 1 million Ontarian’s are out of work. For 8 years, Ontario has had one of the highest unemployment rates in Canada. Ontario is now the have-not province of Canada with a debt of $227 billion. theglobeandmail/report-on-business/economy/ontario-drives-manufacturers-away-with-overpriced-electricity/article14854752/ Bruce Peninsula Gone are the days of beautiful Ontario…. Wind projects can be built anywhere in Ontario. Wind projects are approved by the Ontario Government without consent from the affected municipalities or people. Many Ontario laws or regulations do not apply to Wind Companies: municipal bylaws, building permits, road weight restrictions, drainage, protection of wetlands; migratory paths; death or harm to endangered species. Wind companies simply obtain exemptions from any law that impedes their projects. March 2014 – Lambton Shores – Rest area for Migrating Tundra Swans March 2015 – Lambton Shores – Rest area for newly built wind turbines. Wind turbines towering as high as 60 storeys, are intrusive and will affect over 4800 sq. miles in Ontario. Every Great Lakes coastline will have 1,000-2,000 wind turbines. Tourism is diminishing, rural property values are decreasing; livestock, endangered species, wildlife and fowl are being negatively affected. Ontario Wind Turbines are built closer to humans than any place in the world; people are suffering from wind turbine syndrome which can be life threatening. People don’t want to live near these turbines and are abandoning their homes without recourse. Areas in rural Ontario are becoming ghost towns. In the Niagara area, turbines that were built too close to residents, are violating the law and need to be dismantled. As of March, 2014, the Liberals have been attempting to give the wind company a pass over the residents and the law. niagarathisweek/news-story/4390620-enforce-the-law-hudak-to-energy-minister Wolfe Island The Liberal & NDP support our wind energy policy even though it is convoluted and wastes our money. Nuclear, hydro, & gas is cheap, reliable, clean energy but, wind has priority. At 3-4 times the price, wind energy is too expensive, unreliable, available only about 20-30% of the time (sometimes as low as 10%). Wind needs backup energy. For every kilowatt of wind power, we need one kilowatt of backup energy fuel, that could otherwise be our initial source. Ontario has so much electricity that we pay the USA & Quebec to take it off our hands or, when permitting, charge them 2.5 cents per kw hour. In 2013 alone, the loss was $1 billion which will cost your household an additional $250. Quebec turns around and sells our hydro at cheap rates (5 cents per kw hour) to the New England states and makes a substantial profit. Ontario is spending $11 billion building transmission lines to feed energy from wind turbines. That’s an additional $2750 cost to your household. Beginning in 2007, Ontario installed smart meters at cost of $700 per household. As of February, 2104, there are discussions to replace these meters at another $700 per household. When there is too much electricity, Ontario pays $1 million dollars a day to take a nuclear plant off-line ($66 million in 2013); diverts the water at Niagara Falls and pays wind companies to shut down their turbines. Ontario pays gas plants to run continually in backup mode for wind energy. According to the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Carbon Dioxide Emissions will increase by 48% in 2030, because gas plants starting up and shutting down on a continuous basis expels significantly more emissions into the atmosphere than if they ran continually. The first weekend in August, Ontario lost $10 million because of the highly windy days resulting in unexpected energy to the grid. The same situation occurred on November 9 & 10, where Ontario lost another $20 million. These losses are charged back to Ontario hydro consumers. Effective September 11, 2013, Ontario agreed to pay Wind Energy companies $200,000 per MW NOT to supply their wind energy to the grid, because it’s “cheaper” than paying the USA & Quebec to use it. Since then, the Liberals continue to approve new wind farm projects on a weekly basis. The plan to build two new nuclear reactors at Darlington was abruptly cancelled by the Liberals in October 2013 at a cost of $180 million. This will be charged back to the Ontario hydro consumer. The $1.1 billion cancellation of 2 gas plants by the Liberals will cost your household an additional $250. Because wind is so unreliable and unpredictable, the staff at the IESO, must continually manipulate the grid on an hourly basis, by shutting down, or starting up, the nuclear, gas or hydro plants or sending the excess off to the states. These constant changes to the grid are prone to error and Ontario’s grid wasn’t built to handle such. Experts say that we better be prepared for frequent and long blackouts or worse, as in complete failure of our energy grid resulting in a devastating blackout. Truth is stranger than fiction Ontario pays Quebec to take our excess electricity. Quebec sells it to bordering States at dirt cheap rates. These states attract manufacturing because of cheap electricity. Therefore: Manufacturers can move to the border States to get cheap electricity that is sourced from Ontario. New York State clearly sees opportunity. In March 2014 promotional information was sent to Ontario’s Manufacturing sector citing Ontario’s high energy costs as a main reason to relocate to New York State. theglobeandmail/news/politics/soaring-energy-prices-making-ontario-look-dim-for-manufacturers/article17560172/ Chatham Kent The Liberals are providing a solution for an environmental problem that doesn’t exist. Ontario has clean air. When is the last time you heard about poor air quality in this province? Ontario has clean and excess energy fuel without wind turbines. Ontario’s economy is shrinking and electricity use has decreased by 6% since 2006. Ontario doesn’t need smart meters or “time of use” rates. Yet: The Liberals subsidize wind energy at a rate equivalent to $1000 per barrel of oil. Wind companies can’t survive without subsidies: However, with no subsidies, our electrical bills would be affordable. Does this make sense to you?? The Liberals & NDP’s give way to the resident wind energy lobbyists at Queens Park regardless of the impact on Ontario. This has been going on for years. In 2004, the Liberals awarded Mike Crawley, the (then) Ontario President for the Liberals, a wind energy contract that guarantees his company $66,000 a day for a total of $1/2 Billion dollars. The Wind Industry held a fundraising event for Kathleen Wynne in April 2013. Another lobbyist fundraiser was held in March 2014 that raised $5 million. Those who promote Wind Energy, such as the Liberals, NDP, David Suzuki, Greenpeace, Pembina Institute, Environmental Defence, Friends of the Wind and CANWEA are supported by Wind Energy companies and benefit financially from these companies. Ten minutes of research on the Internet will tell you that wind turbines are nothing more than big money for billion dollar companies, big money for environmentalists and big money for politicians with many disadvantages to the Ontario people. Question: Can these Wind Projects be Stopped? The answer is: Yes The Liberals have the discretionary power to cancel or modify these contracts but their actions make it clear they don’t want to. An Ontario court ruling in the decision of Trillium vs. Ontario, 2013, clearly states that: “Governments are free to alter policies in the public interest.” “Companies in the renewable power business participate in government subsidy programs ‘at their own risk’.” The Liberals refuse to acknowledge this ruling. The NDP are doing the same. The PC’s want them stopped. As of March 2014, Ontario has 55 incomplete wind power projects (consisting of approximately 4900 turbines) that could be stopped legally. If the Liberals allow them to be completed (which they intend to do) the cost to Ontario will be: An additional $22 billion ($5500 cost to your household); More intrusion on our countryside and our people. For ruling, refer to Discussion at the bottom of this page osler/NewsResources/Appeal-Court-Allows-2-Billion-Wind-Farm-Action-to-Proceed-Against-Government-of-Ontario/ Chatham Kent Airport – Location of turbines was denied by Transport Canada, fought by the municipality, but the project was approved by the Liberals. This same type of situation is occurring with other local airports such as Collingwood, Peterborough, Goderich, Kincardine, Huron Park, Grand Bend and the Niagara Region. Energy Platform by Party The PC’s introduced Bill 42 in 2012 and Bill 39 in 2013 to eliminate wind subsidies (making electricity cheaper) and give control back to municipalities. The NDP’s and Liberals voted against these bills. The Liberal Energy Platform Build more wind farms February 2014: the Liberals announced that they will be pursuing additional Wind Energy Projects in January 2015. The NDP Energy Platform Offer ratepayers a $100 rebate (paid for by taxpayers). Remove HST from energy and heating bills. End the practice of exporting subsidized power to New York and Michigan Wants the auditor general to review all private power contracts. The PC Energy Platform Scrap Ontario’s wind energy policy. Give control back to municipalities. Eliminate wind subsidies. Don’t connect unwanted Wind Projects to the grid where, the local municipality wasn’t welcoming of the project, and it doesn’t make sense on a cost-benefit analysis. PC MPP Lisa Macleod in the Legislative: Scrapping the Liberal’s Green Energy Act Wolfe Island before & after the Liberal’s energy policies Wind Farms slated for Ontario Wind verses Nuclear The map below is of one of many wind projects approved for the area east of Grand Bend and north of London. It is approximately 34 km long and 16 km wide with a footprint of over 500 sq. kilometers compared to the nuclear footprint of 9 sq. kilometers. It will have 63 wind turbines with a total maximum output of 102 megawatts (MW) per hour. Applying efficiency factor of 30%, actual output will be 30 MW per hour. Ontario average usage is 18,000 MW per hour. Nuclear provides approximately l0,000 MW every hour 24/7. This wind project with a massive footprint has the potential of providing .16% (1/6th of one percent) our energy needs. Chart Comparison Map In 10-20 years Niagara Falls hydro generator is 100 years old, but wind turbines are good for only 10-20 years. Each turbine construction consists of 800 tonnes of cement for support, approximately 250 tonnes of unrecyclable materials, 700 litres of hydraulic fuel and, 600 kilograms of rare earth metals. Multiply these numbers by 6736 and Ontario is facing a potential ecological conundrum. The are no monetary guarantees to ensure these turbines will be dismantled as wind companies are not required to post any bond. It is estimated that a turbine, depending on size, will cost $400,000 to $1,000,000 to dismantle. Given that wind companies are predominantly foreign, can change ownership or, go bankrupt, it is quite realistic to expect 100′s or 1,000′s of dead turbines in 20 years and left standing. The Liberals have no plans as to where to dispose these materials, nor have indicated that wind companies will be responsible for the costs of building the landfill sites or depots. One can only assume, that the cost to dispose 6736 turbines will be covered by the people of Ontario. In 10-20 years, we could be faced with a landscape of old, rusted out, broken down turbines. December, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 01:22:22 +0000
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