Message from Tom Black, OLA President
Wind Turbines have become one of the most divisive programs that man has ever introduced into the rural countryside. Not many inventions have stirred the kind of emotion that is currently tearing the country apart and pitting neighbour against neighbour.
The wind turbine generation fad has been hoisted upon the province by the Green Energy Act (GEA) and it’s promoters the McGuinty Liberals, who have staked their reputation and their place in history on the promise of replacing coal, gas and nuclear with green energy from wind and solar. To accomplish that end, they introduced the FIT (Feed-in Tariff) program with outrageous contracts that they signed for 20 years. Now several years into this program, there is plenty of evidence to show that this initiative has failed terribly and cost the province dearly in lost manufacturing due to high electricity prices driving away business. Regular citizens are also feeling the effects with runaway electrical bills, although the full cost of the GEA has not really hit us yet.
For those that want to track the success or failures of these green initiatives, you can log onto: www.ieso.ca and read for yourself how much electricity is being produced at any time and by what method it is being produced. For example, on June 26, 2013, the province of Ontario was using 21,572 MW of power at 8 pm. The breakdown was as per the chart:
| Nuclear…………11,554 mw Hydro…………….4,994 mw Gas……………. 3,842 mw Coal…………….. 978 mw Wind………………..71 mw Other………………169 mw Hourly Price $ .0315 kw |
As you can see, wind was producing 0.614 % of the total electricity. The column called “Other” represents ‘solar’, ‘methane’ and ‘private hydro dams’ for a total of 1.46% of the power produced at that time.
CFRA on 580 am radio in Ottawa has been highlighting the folly of the GEA since its inception. Lowell Green, on air at 10 am weekdays and Rob Snow at 3 pm weekdays have been the prime talk show hosts who have worked relentlessly to bring to the attention of citizens and politicians how this idealistic push by the McGuinty clan, has put the economy of Ontario in jeopardy.
In an article in the Financial Post, June 27, 2013, Parker Gallant laid out some of the costs of the GEA. He suggests that the gas plant “debacle” is really small potatoes at 585 million dollars cost to the taxpayers. He says the GEA will cost us 10 to 20 times that number over the next 20 years. In a related article (same paper) by Terrance Corcoran, titled “Ontario Liberals’ last Power Trip – Ontario’s Power Trip: McGuinty’s Legacy”. Terrance says that for the 12 month period ending in May 2013, 4.8 terawatt hours (TWH) of power was produced by wind, but there was no need for it and it was sold off at a net loss to taxpayers of 533 million dollars for one year. Now that will be 533 million dollars for the next 20 years. But wait! According to Mr. Corcoran the windmill contracts are only 35% complete! By 2016, when all are built and if the energy demands remain the same, the cost for taxpayers to subsidize wind could approach 2 billion dollars per year. When all is said and done, Mr. Corcoran claims it will cost the average householder $1,100 per year for the next 20 years. According to my calculator, that is $22,000 of your hard earned cash for the Green Energy Act experiment.
Check it out for yourself folks, www.ieso.ca and see how your money is blowing away in the wind!