Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) was the most progressive green energy initiative in North America for more than twenty years.

The program has been a success in that it has received applications for over 1,000 MW of renewable energy since it was launched 2 years ago.

However, barriers have arisen and issues have emerged which show the limitations inherent in the RESOP:

• Potential renewable energy producers are unable to access the grid in certain areas of Ontario.
• Communities are having difficulty obtaining financing to investigate the feasibility of renewable resource projects in their area.

The Integrated Power System Plan is a comprehensive and necessary long-range plan that covers many of the vital aspects of Ontario's electricity system.

Yet the IPSP is limited in the way that it addresses the enormous potential of distributed generation.

Ontario needs a policy framework that will eliminate the barriers and maximize conservation and renewable energy production – that will enable the rapid deployment of renewable energy and conservation projects.

The Green Energy Act campaign welcomes the participation of citizens, businesses and the public sector to:

• Reinforce the commitment to conservation and renewable energy
• Establish a ‘roadmap’ to conservation and green energy and address gaps in the present plans including removing barriers to ensure renewables get on line
• Take advantage of the clean slate that is Ontario’s electricity system, which requires an estimated $60 billion to expand and reinforce the grid and bring on new generation
• Identify our opportunities and copy best practices to capitalize on them, just as we did with the RESOP

The Ontario Green Energy Act. Generation for Generations.