For Immediate Release:
August 4, 2011
Simcoe – Following two days of McGuinty manipulation to further entrench unaffordable wind and solar power contracts, it’s clear this government just refuses to listen.
That according to Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett who indicates the clear petty political games being played on wind energy policy in the run-up to the election will end up costing Ontario families even more.
Yesterday, Government announced it would guarantee1,800 new renewable energy contracts under McGuinty’s unaffordable FIT program – that pays close to 20 times the going rate of power in some cases. The move comes just a month and a half before the Ontario election after which Opposition Leader Tim Hudak has promised to scrap the FIT program.
“People find it disappointing, and somewhat strange that Mr. McGuinty is changing the rules of the game just weeks before the commencement of the election,” Barrett noted.
One day later, the manipulation continues, as government was crowing this morning about new financial concessions and job agreements from the sweetheart Samsung deal – and it’s 67 turbines for Haldimand County – that could still see Ontario ratepayers handing over up to 1.1 billion a year to the foreign multinational according to energy analyst Tom Adams.
“People are smart enough to realize that even though a snake sheds its skin – it’s still a snake,” intoned Barrett. “These guys can wrap up the unaffordable FIT and Samsung deals in whatever package they want – it doesn’t change the fact that these expensive green energy experiments are being forced upon local rural communities that are prevented any say in projects that will impact them directly.”
Barrett went on to indicate that despite the last minute manoeuvring, Dalton McGuinty’s expensive energy experiments will still cost Ontario families $732 a year more by 2015 – the untendered contract with Samsung alone will increase the hydro bills of Ontario families by 7%.
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: (416) 325-8404,
(519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629