Taking Toronto off the grid

[marmar]

from NOW Toronto:



Ecoholic

Taking T.O. off the grid

The green energy issue



Until recently, green power was given about as much nourishment in Ontario as a dandelion in a concrete crevice.

Now that the new Green Energy Act has made renewable electricity the belle of the ball, how can Toronto, rich in lake breezes but far from the strongest gusts and rushing rivers, cash in? Will our power lines be blown over by Big Wind 100s of kilometres away, or will a city largely juiced by dodgy nukes finally get power to the people through community-controlled green voltage?

***

If you were dozing while the final details of the Green Energy Act surfaced over the last few weeks, here’s the basic rundown: renewable energy projects will now get fast-tracked, and thanks to a new feed-in tariff plan, anyone and everyone who wants to get in on the sustainable energy game (from your Aunt Ethel to multinational energy conglomerates) will get paid the same premium price to feed solar, wind, hydro, biomass or biogas into the grid.

Not only are local distribution companies now required by law to conserve energy and facilitate the connection of renewable projects to the grid (hell, it’s now a condition of their licence to operate), but they also have to give green power priority access to that grid. That means a rooftop solar farm would get bumped ahead of another fossil-fuel-burping Portlands Energy operation.

Besides the payoffs to homes and hardware stores that strap solar to their roofs, the most transformative news for this city is that the act finally lets municipalities and local power distributors like Toronto Hydro produce their very own power – if, and only if, that power is green as pesticide-free grass. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/ecoholic.cfm?content=171668