Ontario is so flush with energy and electricity customers are so due for a break on their bills that the Liberal government is shelving its latest search for large-scale solar and wind power projects, which have stoked outrage in some rural parts of the province over the past decade.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault announced the newest consumer-friendly measure Tuesday morning, telling reporters the government is suspending the second round of the Large Renewable Procurement and the Energy-from-Waste Standard Offer Program. The province had been looking for approximately 1,000 megawatts of new electricity supply from solar, wind, hydroelectric and energy-from-waste sources — but Thibeault says the province’s latest power outlook is so good the program is no longer needed.

“In short, it’s clear to me that there is no urgent need to pursue additional electricity supply at this time,” Thibeault said at Queen’s Park. “Given this strong energy position, it only makes sense that, as a government and as the new minister of energy, we take a careful look at our procurements and make common-sense adjustments.”

The government says avoiding the new green-energy contracts will save up to $3.8 billion in costs compared to what had been forecast in its 2013 long-term energy plan. For your average household, suspending the process translates into a $2.45 monthly discount.

And the decision comes two weeks after the Liberal government said it would provide residential and small-business electricity customers with an 8-per-cent rebate on their hydro bills. The opposition parties have seized on electricity prices as an issue to batter the government with, and the Liberals have taken action on the file.

“When you start adding together all of the savings that we’re bringing forward for consumers, it’s starting to become more and more significant,” said Thibeault. “So if it’s 50 cents or $50, I’ll continue to try and find ways to help put downward pressure on rates.”

Thibeault said the Liberal government would honour the green-energy contracts it has already signed (including ones inked earlier this year under the first LRP). He also told reporters he was informed by the Independent Electricity System Operator that ending the LRP II process would not leave the province short on energy when the refurbishment of nuclear reactors at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington station begins next month.

The 20-year planning outlook (and 10-year review), which was released Sept. 1 by the IESO, the provincial agency that administers the power grid, said Ontario “is in a strong starting position” to respond to various levels of demand. However, the IESO added “there are a number of risks that could affect the availability of supply over the planning outlook.”

“This includes the risk of implementation delays, including with the nuclear refurbishment program, and the effect of aging on the performance of the generation fleet,” it added.

Despite the loss of future solar or wind power projects, the Liberal government is fond of reminding voters the province’s electricity supply is now more than 90 per cent emission-free after the closure of Ontario’s coal-fired power plants. The remaining 10 per cent of emission-producing power comes from gas plants.

The power outlook warned, “the effects on carbon emissions will depend on the extent to which the existing natural gas-fired fleet is used to meet increases in demand.” While the province still relies on natural gas-fired generation during periods of peak demand, Thibeault said the end of the renewable-energy procurement would not upset the government’s climate goals.

“We’re still going to meet our demands and we’re still making sure that we have our ways to reduce [greenhouse gas emissions],” he said.

Scrapping the new renewable-energy procurement will also be popular with rural Ontarians who were alienated by the Liberal government’s support of wind power projects. On Monday, the government was even accused by PC MPP Jim Wilson of interfering with witnesses slated to testify at an Environmental Review Tribunal hearing on a proposed wind farm near Collingwood’s airport; Environment Minister Glen Murray denied the charge.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said Tuesday that the Liberals’ decision to suspend the latest green-energy procurement was “too little, too late.” Brown also linked the Liberals' energy policy to their fundraising efforts.

“The government has plowed ahead for years, signing contracts for energy we simply do not need,” he added.

NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns said the Liberal government’s decision was motivated entirely by politics.

“I think they put Ontario into a very difficult position with a policy of privatization that is driving up rates and they’re desperately flailing around looking for something that will allow them to push a reset button in Ontario,” said Tabuns. “And I don’t think they’ve found the button.”

Tabuns also said ending the LRP II process would “alienate” the government’s clean energy fans.

Indeed, Environmental Defence programs director Keith Brooks said in a statement sent Tuesday afternoon that shutting down the green-energy procurement was short-sighted, and that “this is exactly the wrong time to put the brakes on renewable energy.”

The LRP process replaced the Liberal government’s original feed-in-tariff program for big wind and solar farms, which had been instituted under former premier Dalton McGuinty. The original FIT process offered expensive contracts to green-energy producers to get them into the business, but it also took an approach that struck many rural Ontarians as heavy-handed, earning their anger.

One of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s first actions was to revamp the large-scale FIT program (a similar process for smaller projects still exists) and create a less top-down method of siting wind and solar ventures.

UPDATE: Former energy minister George Smitherman blamed the cancellation of the large renewable energy procurement on a glut of power provided by OPG's Pickering nuclear plant.

"The cancellation of the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP II) program makes it a scapegoat for pricing when the real culprit for oversupply is the aging Pickering Nuclear Plant," wrote Smitherman on Facebook. "Ontario had a choice to look forward but chose to look backwards."

The Liberal government is backing a plan to extend the plant's life by four years longer than originally planned, to 2024, pending all the necessary regulatory approvals. The station currently generates about 13 per cent of the province's power.

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Liberals kibosh new green-power projects, reap $2.45 in monthly savings for electricity customers

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