Wind energy moratorium to continue despite $28M NAFTA ruling against Ontario

Five years after issuing a moratorium on offshore wind projects, the Ontario government says it still doesn't have enough information to decide if the ban should be lifted.

A NAFTA tribunal last week awarded $28-million in damages to Windstream Energy, whose $5.2-billion, 300-megawatt offshore wind contract was put in limbo by the 2011 moratorium.

The tribunal decision is not yet publicly available, but Windstream says the ruling found the provincial government "on the whole did relatively little to address the scientific uncertainty surrounding offshore wind that it relied upon as the main publicly cited reason for the moratorium."

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Windstream director David Mars said he's unclear as to whether the government is still conducting research.

"We haven't had a conversation with them since four energy ministers ago," he said. "We've attempted and tried, but we've been rebuffed at all passes."

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said lifting the moratorium eventually is not off the table as the government conducts a review of its long-term energy plan, but for now it needs to continue.

"It is important for us to try and look at getting the [Ministry of the Environment]involved to ensure that we can have a clear understanding on some of the aspects and some of the possible problems that are related with offshore wind," Thibeaultsaid.

"We do have a lot of data on on-shore wind, but we don't have enough yet on offshore wind."

Even though the moratorium has been in place for five years, Thibeault said more data is needed, but he is "not 100 per cent sure" if research is still actively being conducted.

Both the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives said the moratorium was never about research, it was about saving Liberal seats in the run-up to the 2011 election.

"They've done no more new research as far as we know," said PCenergy critic John Yakabuski. "They keep talkingabout it, but itwas a political decision that we know now has cost us at least $28-million."

The Windstream contract was signed at a time when the Ontariogovernment was shutting down coal-fired electricity generation andlooking for green sources of power. Now, the Liberal government isunder fire for its green energyprogram, recently canceling plansto sign contracts for up to 1,000 megawatts of power from solar,wind andother renewable energy sources.

It was determined that power wasn't needed, Thibeault said,though he stressed that Ontario isn't backing away from its greenenergy policies, including long-term contracts most for 20 years for 18,000 megawatts of power from wind, solar bio-energy andenergy-from-waste projects.

We do have a lot of data on on-shore wind, but we don't have enough yet on offshore wind.- Minister Glenn Thibeault

Mars, of Windstream, said he couldn't speak to whether Ontariostill needed the power from his company's project, but he is stillhoping the contract is fulfilled.

"Walking away from this contract now creates a significantriskiness to investment in the province in general and specificallyany foreign investment coming from abroad," he said.

"We invest around the world and we've never had this situationhappen to us before. Whether it be Russia or Brazil, we've alwayssigned our contracts and been able to implement and fulfil them, soit's very strange to us that in North America, specifically thatOntario would be such a risky place to invest."

Thibeault said the government is taking time to review thetribunal's decision.

• OPP investigate Ontario Liberals over allegations that documents were destroyed

The Liberal government is also under criminal investigation andis being sued over another offshore wind project.

Trillium Power Wind Corp. has alleged in a lawsuit thatgovernment officials destroyed documents after the company sued overthe government's cancellation of a Lake Ontario wind project. Theprovincial police started an investigation inthe spring afterTrillium made a complaint.

None of Trillium's allegations havebeen proven in court.

In its statement of defence, the government says it was acoincidence that the moratorium and cancellations wereissued justbefore Trillium's financing was set to close.