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| Finally have applied some common sense in their decision making ... way late in the game though ... massive wind turbines under construction right now atop the Oak Ridges Moraine which last I checked is supposed to be a protected "greenbelt" which this government proclaimed as such. Doesn't make a lot of sense does it?
Then there's the horrible explosion in the number of solar-farm installations polluting rural Ontario landscapes ... they have converted a lot of lands into industrial installations that will never be farmed again. Those lands have largely been covered with concrete, access roads, under-ground cables and office/ maintenance buildings all secured within stout chain-link fences. IMO it is a near certainty that those Ontario lands will never again contribute to our food supply. To make these projects an even worse folly, they're built using inefficient static solar arrays, those only generate meaningful power for a few hours each day during the hot summer months, from late September thru to early May they are pretty much useless as far as generating power is concerned, These static panel solar contracts are extraordinarily bad investments for the citizens of Ontario.
The other aspect that has really disturbed me is how the legislation governing the large projects is/was so undemocratic, neighborhood groups were powerless, landowners were powerless and Municipalities were powerless to stop or even negotiate with these wind and solar promoters, they (the promoters) had a government power contract in hand and the Government of Ontario willingly, almost gleefully made sure all opposition was steam-rolled. Surely Ontario Municipalities big and small all throughout Ontario deserved to have their objections heard, but nope ... they the urban greenies know what's best for our rural communities.
I could possibly support subsidizing roof-top static arrays built in urban areas (think apartment buildings, condos, warehouses etc.) to help out with peak summer loads. The rural solar array tracker systems are not nearly as objectionable in my mind. At least they maximize the solar power available by tracking sun's position in the sky and are mostly single or sometimes double installations.
I'm hoping today's announcement will stop development quickly ... really don't want to see even one more solar farm being built. Might work ok in an Arizona or California desert but no place for them here in cold and snowy Ontario.
Edited by kawartha 9/27/2016 23:24
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Ontario suspends new "green energy" projects
