Solar energy rate change zaps farmers - Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA

Solar energy rate change zaps farmers - Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA

Brant-area farmers are crying foul over a drastic cut by Premier Dalton McGuinty's government in a subsidy for farmers who are signing up with companies to generate power with ground-mounted solar units.
The government is facing an angry reaction to an announcement that the Ontario Power Authority will slash to 58 cents per kilowatt hour from 80.2 cents for payment for solar-generated power in its microFIT program that is meant to enhance green electricity production and allow smaller suppliers to plug into the grid.
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"As a farmer, speaking personally, I am very, very concerned at the sudden change, " Sandra Vos, president of the Brant County Federation of Agriculture, said Friday.
"Solar power production would have helped farmers a lot. What is going to happen to all the businesses that invested because of the price that was quoted earlier?
Vos said a change of that magnitude in the rate will affect the popularity of the program, because, at 58 cents, suppliers will make money only in the last four years of a 20-year contract.
"Here was a chance to provide a good solid Ontario manufacturing opportunity for companies producing those units and distributors who would put them together. Now it's gone."
The OPA says the price had to be cut because the program had "vastly surpassed expectations" with 16,000 applicants. If it had gone unchecked, it explained, the government would have been faced with an extra $1 billion over 20 years.