After hearing howls of outrage over the sudden dropping of the price offered for ground mounted solar energy production, the Ontario Power Authority announced Aug. 13 it has finalized the price for new microfit ground-mounted solar price category at 64.2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
That is still some way from the $0.80.2 cents originally promised.
The new price category is effective immediately for eligible projects with applications that were submitted after noon on July 2, when the lower price category was proposed.
Eligible ground-mounted applications submitted prior to that, will receive the original price of $0.80.2 cents/kWh whether or not they have received a contract or conditional offer.
Those applicants will also have until May 31, to install and request a connection for their projects before higher domestic content requirements are required. Ground-mounted solar microfit contracts signed and conditional offers received before July 2 will continue to be eligible for the original price of 80.2 cents/kWh.
On the July long weekend, the Liberal government had suddenly announced a 27% retroactive reduction in the feed-in-tariff rate for ground mounted solar projects, which left almost 10,000 solar entrepreneurs hanging. They had invested based on one price, and were suddenly facing a much lower one.
Most of those projects were from the rural areas, and farmers in particular were outraged because they had invested heavily in the technology based on the price that had been promised.
The move affected mainly rural areas, with cities far more able to use roof-top solar technology than ground mounted solar projects.
The reaction from the solar industry and individual project owners was unanimous across the province: to demand that the government honour its commitment to existing project applicants and institute more transparency in future rate reviews.
Officials stated that the finalized price reflected comments received during a 30 day consultation period and it incorporates a wider variation of costs and project configurations, including higher operating and maintenance costs for ground-mounted tracking systems.
“The outcome of a constructive consultation process is that these changes provide fairness for those who have applied to the existing program and good value for clean energy,” said Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Duguid. “The microfit program will continue to be a sustainable program that encourages residents to participate in the growing clean energy economy.”
During the 30-day consultation period, the OPA held three web-enabled teleconferences with 1,665 participants and received 1,645 written submissions about the proposed price.
The OPA is establishing a microfit program advisory panel that will provide advice on program evolution, including the two-year review process. The panel will include industry, academic, and other stakeholder representatives.
Commercial businesses that lease land or rooftops from individuals for multiple renewable energy projects will no longer be allowed to participate in the microfit program. That is supposed to ensure that the microfit program is focused on its original purpose – encouraging homeowners, farmers, farm co-operatives, Aboriginal communities, small businesses and institutions such as schools, to own and develop small renewable projects.
The panel will make recommendations to ensure that commercial aggregators can continue to participate in the clean energy economy but do so outside of the microfit program structure. New microfit applications will be accepted beginning on Aug. 20.
The OPA received almost 19,000 applications since the program was launched less than a year ago. More than 6,100 conditional offers were sent to applicants and almost 800 projects are feeding clean energy into Ontario’s grid.
The OPA is working to respond quickly to microfit applicants. Most ground-mounted applications that have been submitted are expected to be processed by the end of September. Details on the goals for offering conditional contracts are available at microfit.powerauthority.on.ca.
