Trillium Power sues Ontario for $2.25 billion

A company that planned to build a series of huge wind farms in Lake Ontario is suing the provincial government for $2.25-billion, claiming it unfairly cancelled all offshore wind projects earlier this year.

Trillium Power Wind Corp. spent millions of dollars over many years planning its projects, and had dutifully followed the government’s application processes, the suit claims, but the rug was pulled from under its feet when the province said it would not consider any offshore development until more scientific studies were done.

Source: Globe and Mail, Toronto

Offshore wind moratorium a chickenshit move

February's election-minded announcement that the Ontario government has placed a moratorium on offshore windfarm development was a cowardly, backwards-looking decision. Fearful of voters' groups opposed to wind turbines "ruining" their lake views, the government caved against unwarranted and limited protests.

It is time for the government to choose 2 or 3 Lake Ontario projects and a few more in other lakes as a test project, and then expand the program as more data and opportunities surface. Our province needs to phase out both coal-fired and atomic fission electricity generation, and both land-based and offshore wind energy developments will be core components of our 21st Century energy infrastructure mix.