The Ontario government says it will announce changes to its
Green Energy program this week, and it’s likely that solar rates will decline.
The cost of solar panels has declined sharply, led by new
technologies and companies in China, so the rates Ontario pays for 20-year
contracts is bound to decline. They are based on return on investment, and the
current return is exceptionally good.
There are, however, a number of property owners whose
solar-panel projects have been stranded because of lack of distribution capacity
so they can’t yet connect to the grid.
The province is unlikely to cut prices as sharply, or
perhaps at all, for electricity generated by windmills of biomass generators.
It is likely to allow for some municipal input on wind farms
because there has been a rural rebellion against the province’s policy to grant
approvals despite Not-in-my-Back Yard opposition.
