Ontario loses protection for energy projects

As expected, Ontario has lost its right to require 60 per cent Canadian-made components for its Green Energy Plan solar and wind projects.

The government will only allow energy suppliers to feed into the grid at highly-attractive contract prices if at least 60 per cent of the equipment is made in Ontario.

The World Trade Organization decided in December that Japan and the European Union were right in objecting to that requirement which effectively kept their equipment out of the Ontario market.

The federal government filed an appeal for Ontario, but now the World Trade Organization’s appeal body has also decided the requirement is an illegal restraint of trade.

The entire Green Enery plan is under attack from people who now realize that it is sharply increasing the cost of electricity.

In fact, many of those who have wind and solar projects on their property sell at rates 10- to 25 times as high as the price they pay to buy electricity from the crown corporation.

It seems that everything to do with electricity has been a disaster for the McGuinty government, including more than $500 million wasted to move generating plants that local people didn't want in their back yards in Oakville and Mississauga.

I could have told the Ontario Liberals that their made-in-Ontario policy would be outlawed by the World Trade Organization, but my advice is given free of charge and it seems they prefer to consult highly-paid flunkies who give bad advice.