Ontario Green Energy Act: Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli: A key to the Green Energy Act's success was the local content requirement of 50 per cent for wind projects and 60 per cent on solar. The high feed-in-tariff rate that the province guaranteed to wind and solar power producers could be justified because it was directly leading to new manufacturing in Ontario. , according to Hamilton Spectator. But in June, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said the province would comply with the decision. Local content quotas were cut by half or more. And this week the minister announced they will be removed altogether next year to reform the Green Energy Act in response to the WTO decision. The Ontario Green Energy Act was a creative effort to reduce the impacts of climate change and revitalize a faltering provincial economy. Though the Ontario government missed a self-imposed 2013 target of 50,000 new jobs, evidence shows the policy has attracted new manufacturing to the province while creating permanent employment in the renewable energy services sector. All of this was jeopardized by a World Trade Organization WTO decision last December, and upheld by the WTO appellate body this May, declaring that the local content requirement conflicts with international trade rules. It was a surprising decision to many, since government procurement policies are expressly exempted from the national treatment i.e. non-discrimination obligations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GATT . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.