As part of the Ontario government’s plan to generate 5% of Ontario’s total energy capacity from new renewable sources by 2007 and 10% by 2010, the government has announced a Standard Offer Contract program. Certain details of the program were provided on March 21, 2006, with contract details and additional specifics to follow in June.
The Standard Offer Contract program (similar to a renewable energy tariff or feed-in tariff program in Europe) is intended to promote small-scale renewable energy production in order to supplement the government’s request for proposals program. The Ontario Standard Offer Contract program is the first such program in North America.
Based on the information provided to date, the Standard Offer contracts will provide for a twenty-year term at a guaranteed price (subject to certain adjustments), which will depend on the particular source of the renewable energy. To qualify, each project can produce up to a maximum of 10 megawatts (MW) of energy, but there
