Ontariois launching its scheduled review of the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program. This will examine program rules and pricing to ensure the program remains successful and sustainable. The FIT Program, which launched in 2009, is the most comprehensive program of its kind in North America.

The province’s Green Energy Act and FIT program was launched in 2009 to:

• Make it easier and more efficient to bring renewable energy projects of all sizes online.
• Stimulate the economy and create jobs, making Ontario a clean energy leader.
• Help replace dirty coal-fired plants with cleaner sources of renewable energy, cleaning up the air, protecting the health of Ontarians and reducing the province’s environmental footprint.

Since the launch of the Green Energy Act and FIT program, the province has:

• Offered contracts for approximately 2,500 medium and large FIT Projects and over 11,000 microFIT projects have connected or are expected to connect soon. This represents enough electricity to power almost 1.2 million homes.
• Created more than 20,000 jobs and is on track to create 50,000 jobs by the end of 2012.
• In October 2010, the province closed four coal-fired power units, four years ahead of schedule. In total, Ontario has shut down eight of 19 coal units; the remaining units will close by 2014.  

Review Process

All Ontarians are invited to participate in the review of the FIT Program and can provide feedback by answering an online survey or making a written submission at www.ontario.ca/FITreview.  The consultation period launched on October 31 and will run until December 14, 2011.

Fareed Amin, an Ontario Deputy Minister, has been appointed to lead the review. Deputy Amin will work closely with the Ministry of Energy and the Ontario Power Authority to conduct the review, which will include direct consultation with the renewable energy sector.

Review Content

The review is intended to address a range of FIT program considerations.  

Considerations include, but are not limited to the following:

• A careful examination of FIT pricing to maintain a balance between the interests of ratepayers and the continued encouragement of clean energy investment in Ontario. This is expected to result in reduced FIT prices for future contracts.
• Potential inclusion of new and emerging technology types.
• Assessment of government policies and tools to ensure that Ontario remains a center of manufacturing excellence and clean energy job creation.
• Consideration of outreach techniques to complement the province’s Renewable Energy Approval (REA) process.