Buying support

Solar developer offers council $70,000 a year to endorse its 100-acre solar energy installations

How much is council’s blessing worth? Skypower, once a wind energy developer now reincarnated as solar energy developer, calculates that the thumbs-up from County council is worth $70,000 a year. That is how much the renewable energy developer is willing to pay County council for a resolution declaring its support for new 100-acre solar energy installations proposed for this municipality. The money is only available, however, once the project is approved, built and operating. Skypower has plans for eight new 10-MW solar installations in Prince Edward County. If all were built that could mean an income stream of $560,000 a year.

Under rule changes to Ontario’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program adopted last month, developers are able to earn priority ranking for their projects based upon certain attributes. In this instance if a developer is able to win municipal support for their project, by way of a resolution, it earns a valuable two points toward a provincial priority ranking.

For Skypower, this ranking advantage is worth $70,000 a year for each 10-MW installation.

The McGuinty government had been under fire across the province for stripping authority from municipalities over the development, siting and regulation of wind and solar energy facilities in their communities. By awarding points to those projects that enjoy municipal support, the province was hoping it might sidestep much of the resentment brewing in rural Ontario over its handling of renewable energy projects.

Instead it has introduced a system that encourages developers to pay for municipal support from small rural communities— many of whom are struggling under the financial strain of delivering provincially mandated services.

“It stinks to high heaven,” said Mayor Peter Mertens in an interview with the Times.

He says the decision will ultimately be made by council but he makes it clear he is unhappy with the latest twist in the province’s FIT program. Mertens recently participated in a panel discussion as part of conference on Ontario’s FIT program and the changes made in March.

He explained to the conference attendees that the issues he and many other communities have is with the way the province is implementing its renewable energy policy—ignoring the municipalities and the communities that are being directly affected. He says throwing money at the problem isn’t a solution.

“Money isn’t the issue,” said Mertens. “Going forward—don’t address issues that are nonmonetary with money.”

And while it is unlikely the intent of the province’s renewable energy bureaucrats was to buy municipal support—that is indeed what these rules have done.

NEWFOUND CIVIC SPIRIT
Irksome to some is the fact that Skypower won’t extend its offer to projects that already have an Ontario Power Authority contract. The developer’s Fotolight project, to be located on Chuckery Hill near Rosseau Crossroad, for example, has already received a contract from the OPA. It doesn’t need council’s approval. So no offer will be forthcoming for this installation.

In its letter to the municipality, Skypower suggests the money on offer might be used “for improvements or programs that benefit the community. We hope that through our efforts to work together on behalf of our communities that we can all benefit from greater investment, job creation and clean solar energy.”

Skypower’s aspirations for this community, it seems, apply only to the extent that it can advance its projects.

Last week Skypower announced it had sold a majority of its stake in 16 solar projects to Canadian Solar, a company based in Kitchener that manufactures most of its solar panel products in China.