Ontario Government Set to Eliminate Environmental Program
Published September 22, 2018 at 3:28 am
The newly-elected PC government recently pledged to repeal environmental legislation.
The province says it’s delivering on its promise to repeal the Green Energy Act.
The PC government says the original Green Energy Act led to the “disastrous feed-in-tariff program and skyrocketing electricity rates for Ontario families, and took away powers from municipalities to stop expensive and unneeded energy projects in their communities.”
The government cited increases in hydro costs over the past several years.
“The Green Energy Act represents the largest transfer of money from the poor and middle class to the rich in Ontario’s history,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.
The government announced that the province has introduced legislation that, if passed, will fully strike the Green Energy Act from Ontario’s books.
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This will include repealing provisions that prohibited municipalities from blocking wind and solar farms.
The province says the proposed legislation would give the government the authority to stop approvals for “wasteful energy projects” where the need for electricity has not been demonstrated.
Rickford said the government has cancelled 758 energy projects.
It says this will help the government achieve its goal of cutting hydro rates by 12 per cent and saving $790 million.
According to the Ontario Energy Board and the Independent Electricity System Operator, wind and solar added $3.75 billion in costs to electricity bills in 2017.
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