Farmers fight solar subsidy cut

Ontario microFIT solar rate cut spurs backlash from rural producers as the Ontario Power Authority reduces the feed-in tariff for ground-mounted arrays, shifting incentives, ROI and subsidies while roof-mounted urban projects keep higher kilowatt-hour pricing.

Looking to keep the heat on Premier Dalton McGuinty and his MPPs with an election looming, a Woodbridge green energy company has launched an online petition to fight plans to cut the rate paid to farmers for producing solar power.

“We hope to get their attention,” Adam Webb, president of solar panel manufacturer Sentinel Solar Corp., said as signatures passed the 500 mark at the rate of 50 an hour.

The concerns came to light after the Ontario Power Authority quietly announced on July 2 that the “microFIT” program for small producers of solar energy had, as energy giants looked to Ontario, “vastly exceeded expectations” with 16,000 applicants.

That prompted the government agency to slash the price offered to 58.8 cents per kilowatt hour from the previous 80.2 cents, with Energy Minister Brad Duguid insisting the rate of return at the higher price would have been be an “exorbitant” 25 to 30 per cent.

The OPA said the 80.2 cent subsidy — 20 times what is paid for nuclear power — could cost the province’s nearly 5 million electricity ratepayers another $1 billion over 20 years.

But the unexpected 27 per cent reduction has already resulted in many unhappy phone calls to Liberal MPPs from rural areas, with one calling it a “slap in the face to rural Ontario” and others worrying the furor could mean the difference between the party winning and losing the October 2011 vote, darkening its reelection hopes across rural ridings.

The OPA will still pay a premium for electricity generated from roof-mounted solar panels in urban areas, creating an urban-rural split on the issue that could put as many as a dozen rural Liberal seats in play, government insiders warn.

“We’re getting a lot of calls from green firms and residents and they take a lot of time to deal with,” said one rural MPP who spoke on condition of anonymity, noting it takes 20 to 25 minutes to handle each irate would-be solar entrepreneur.

Webb said he’s trying to get more people to get in touch with MPPs by putting links to their offices on the petition site at www.microfitaction.com. He said the higher rate would have meant returns on investment of half what Duguid suggested because of higher installation costs for ground-mounted solar arrays than roof-mounted urban arrays under the closed rooftop loophole policy changes now in effect.

The petition site notes that while authorities have portrayed the pending rate change, now out for a 30-day public comment period, as “growing pains” and that the stakes are higher for farmers who have already made investments.

“These are crippling and quite possibly bankrupting blows,” the site says.

One angry farmer wrote to McGuinty explaining he has already signed a contract to install a $100,000 solar system, putting a $25,000 deposit on it, only to find his projected income will drop substantially.

“I wonder if you know a good lawyer who could break this contract as you have broken your promise to me,” wrote Scott Jermey of Pine Plains Farm near Hawkstone, Ont.

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