Written by Eco3

“Ontario’s Green Energy Act could propel the province past California as the most innovative North American leader in the renewable energy field.”  – Denis Hayes, former director of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and lead organizer of Earth Day.

On February 23rd, 2009, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, George Smitherman introduced Bill 150 – the Green Energy Act (GEA).  The intent of the new bill is “to make Ontario a global leader in the development of renewable energy, clean distributed energy and conservation, creating thousands of jobs, economic prosperity, energy security, and climate protection”.  Although the GEA is in its infant stages, it plans to achieve this goal by focusing on making renewable energy projects, mainly hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass more feasible and lucrative for a larger demographic of developers.

In addition to green power generation, the bill will also encourage the development of an improved “smart” grid that will better facilitate the interconnection and transmission of electricity from renewable energy sources.  In contrast to increasing green power production, the GEA also establishes goals to improve overall energy efficiency and conservation by requiring that all buildings, both private and public, to be more energy efficient through a variety of regulations and incentive programs. Continue Reading →