January 9, 2012

Ontario Society of Professional Engineers makes Feed-in Tariff program pitch

TORONTO

The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), the advocacy and member services body for Ontario’s engineers, has called for improvements to the Ontario government’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program.

The government launched the FIT Program in 2009 to help bring renewable energy sources online. The program is subject to review on a two-year basis.

“The electrical grid is a complex system and the knowledge and input of engineers is critical if new technologies are to be integrated in a manner consistent with sound public policy,” said Danny Young, OSPE’s acting CEO.

In its submission OSPE points to six areas of the program that need to be improved:

— A mechanism needs to be created that will limit the flow of applications when the electrical capacity additions for an annual cycle have been met;

— To discourage an excessive number of applications annually, FIT and micro-FIT rates should be adjusted annually to reflect market conditions;

— The process and criteria for submitting alternate technologies for ministerial consideration should be more transparent;

— Larger capacity projects (1MW or larger) should make use of competitive bidding to accelerate cost reduction and innovation;

— Potential changes to rules and rates should be announced in advance to make the process fairer to applicants who have already submitted applications;

— Capacity allocation exempt projects should be subject to capacity assessment.

OSPE looks forward to government feedback on the review process.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

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