Doug Ford shifts direction on wind power in Ontario

One of Doug Ford's first acts as premier of Ontario, just days after taking office in 2018, was cancelling more than 750 renewable energy projects, including a large wind farm that was already partially built. 

Fast forward to today, and Ford's Progressive Conservative government is poised to oversee the biggest expansion of green energy that the province has seen in nearly a decade. 

Ontario has laid out plans to procure an additional 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2034. By comparison: the capacity of all wind power projects currently installed across the province totals about 4,900 megawatts.

The move makes for one of the most dramatic policy shifts from a government that has had its fair share of U-turns. 

The expansion is driven by the anticipated rise in demand for electricity in Ontario — as well as the demand from many companies that the electricity supply be as emissions-free as possible — along with falling costs of producing wind and solar energy.

But the plan is almost certain to face some opposition, particularly when it comes to wind power.

The government has promised to greenlight projects only with approval from local councils, and more than 150 municipalities have passed resolutions saying no to wind farms.

CBC News requested an interview with Stephen Lecce, recently appointed by Ford to be Ontario's minister of energy and electrification, but he was unavailable.

Global boom in renewable power

Keith Brooks, program director with the advocacy group Environmental Defence, says the Ford government's apparent change of heart on renewable energy is good news.  

"The fact that the government has now had this about-face on wind power and solar power speaks to how amazing this technology is, how fast it's growing in other parts of the world, how much the costs have come down," Brooks said in an interview. 

"Around the world — in China, in Minnesota, in California, in the Netherlands — renewable power is experiencing a great boom. For Ontario to be sitting on the sidelines would be a real shame." 

The first step in Ontario's green energy expansion plan is to take place this year, with a call for proposals for 2,000 megawatts of power, roughly equivalent to the output from Ontario's proposed refurbishment of the Pickering nuclear plant.

The current timeline calls for that first phase of projects to come on stream by 2030, with another 1,500 megawatts to follow by 2032 and a further 1,500 megawatts by 2034.

While the province is not specifying in advance any breakdown of how much of this power will come from wind versus other forms of renewable energy such as solar or biomass, industry officials say they expect wind to account for the bulk of it. 

Wind power supplied about nine per cent of Ontario's electricity in 2023, nearly four times as much as solar.

Where wind power began in Ontario 

There's arguably no better place to assess Ontario's experience with wind energy than Melancthon Township, about 100 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

The rural community in Dufferin County is home to about 3,200 people and 167 wind turbines. It's also the site of the first large-scale wind farm to be built in Ontario, operating since 2006. 

Mayor Darren White says many of the fears that were raised in the early 2000s about the impact of wind farms on people's lives never came to pass. 

However, White says the way the previous Liberal government approached wind power in Ontario — approving projects regardless of the local council's willingness — was unfair.  

"There's a lot to be said for more consultation," White said in an interview. "We're not unhappy with the way wind turbines have rolled out in Melancthon, but that's not to say there hasn't been problems along the way."

Melancthon council is currently on record as unwilling to host any more wind projects. White says that could change if a company comes forward with a proposal that would be good for the community. 

"We're not going to pass a resolution [supporting a wind project] just on a back-of-a-napkin drawing," said White. "We want to see your plan. We want to see the locations, we want to see what the infrastructure is. We want to see what the benefits to the community are going to be. So don't come to me and ask for a resolution before you've done your homework." 

The requirement for companies to get municipal approval is just one key difference between the PC and Liberal governments' approaches to wind power. There's also a notable financial difference. 

Under the Liberals' since-repealed Green Energy Act, the province issued contracts paying wind and solar producers lucrative premiums for generating electricity, justified at the time as a way to kick-start a nascent industry.  

This time around, the bidding process is to be competitive, with the province looking to see how cheaply the power can be produced.  

"While the Liberals paid up to eight times the going rate for wind projects that were imposed on unwilling communities, we are determined never to force families and seniors into energy poverty again," said Lecce's press secretary Isha Chaudhuri in an email. 

"Our priority is to deliver affordable energy rates for families while expanding reliable energy to power homes and businesses across the province," said Chaudhuri

Plenty of interest from companies 

Although the nitty-gritty specifics of the bidding process are yet to be revealed, plenty of companies are potentially interested, according to Leonard Kula, vice-president of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, which represents the industry. 

"Over the last decade or so, the cost of wind and solar have come down significantly in Canada and around the world," Kula said in an interview. 

He says companies are already having conversations with municipalities about what their projects could look like, and says Ontario's nearly two decades of experience with wind power has boosted people's familiarity with the industry. 

"Communities know what these projects are. They understand the benefits to the communities and they understand the revenues that accrue to land owners," said Kula.

Wind power companies in Ontario typically pay annual rent to the owners of properties where each turbine is located, and also negotiate what are called "community benefit agreements" with the local municipality. 

For instance, Melancthon gets about $600,000 a year from its agreements with wind power producers, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of the township's annual operating budget. 

Shift surprised advocacy group

Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, a volunteer-led advocacy group, says she was surprised by the Ford government's shift in direction. 

"We'd like to see more of the existing problems addressed and resolved before we go forward and contract with more wind power sites," Wilson said in an interview.

However, Wilson says the government's commitment not to impose projects on unwilling communities marks a "big difference" from how things proceeded under the McGuinty Liberals.

Brooks, of Environmental Defence, says evidence from around the world shows that wind power is safe. 

"I think it's a problem that some people are trying to stoke those fears again or rekindle that opposition," Brooks said. "These projects are good and communities should embrace them."

The Ford government spent $231 million to cancel the green energy contracts it tore up after taking office, but said the move would save ratepayers some $790 million by not paying for power the province didn't need. 

The government currently spends about $6 billion of taxpayer money each year to subsidize Ontario's electricity rates. About half of the province's electricity supply is generated by nuclear plants, roughly one-quarter by hydro dams, and the rest by a mix of gas plants, wind and solar.