Despite overwhelming evidence that governments do badly when they try to remove the freedom from free enterprise, Wynne and McGuinty ploughed ahead with their green energy vision
Kelly McParland
July 19, 2017
10:05 AM EDT
When former premier Dalton McGuinty visited the new Siemens Canada plant in Tillsonburg in 2011, he brushed aside protesters and boasted that the plant was part of the Liberal alternative energy plan that would “put us at the forefront in North America.”
The plant made windmill blades. Windmills were the future. Clean energy was what McGuinty’s two-year-old Green Energy Act was all about. It would free the province of old, dirty manufacturing and introduce new, cutting-edge jobs that would make Ontario the envy of the world.
Just six years later the plant is closing. Management says big changes in the wind industry make it no longer viable. The cutting edge plant that was to help lead Ontario into the Valhalla of a clean energy future can’t survive in a market that wants bigger blades.
McGuinty has long since faded into retirement. He chose to step down rather than endure further questioning about an earlier energy fiasco. There was no sign of his successor, Kathleen Wynne, outside the factory, Tuesday, as newly-jobless workers sought an explanation for the closure. “There was quite a bit of anger in there because they shut the place down the other night and never really told anybody about it,” one complained to The London Free Press. “It was bang, everything was locked down.”
Nathan Denette/ The Canadian Press
Wynne has been busy attending a meeting of the National Governors Association in the U.S., arguing against radical changes to the NAFTA free trade accord. NAFTA is critical to Ontario, particularly given the flow of manufacturing plants leaving the province over high costs, increasing regulation and expensive electricity. At the same time that the Liberals announced a subsidized cut in power prices, they introduced a carbon tax that negates the savings and adds to the difficulties of small industries trying to keep afloat. Wynne also plans to impose a $15 minimum wage on employers, as well as a package of new labour laws, despite predictions companies will be forced to cut staff to absorb the higher costs.
Does anyone remember the last time anything positive emerged from Ontario’s electricity industry, battered and bruised from 13 years of Liberal government manhandling? Hydro rates so punitive the Liberals have applied layer on layer of subsidies, borrowing the money or pushing debt onto future generations to do so. An estimated $45 billion extra in future costs so the government can reduce consumer bills now, as it campaigns for re-election. Billions lost selling power at a loss to the U.S., which will now be made easier by approval of a power line under Lake Erie.
The result of the Liberals’ green energy vision has been a catalogue of disasters
Wynne’s government has been steadily retreating from a green energy deal with Samsung, even while proclaiming its continued devotion to McGuinty’s green vision. In 2013, it cut its planned purchase of electricity from Samsung projects by $3.7 billion, more than a third of the original agreement. In return, Samsung cut its planned investment by $2 billion.
In September, the Liberals ended plans for any new projects, admitting the power wasn’t needed. They had little choice after a report by the Independent Electricity System Operator indicated the province had enough power to last a decade. Characteristically, Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault hailed it as evidence of the government’s fiscal prudence, rather than proof of a colossal failure. “By putting our finger on the pause button it allows me to save $3.8 billion for ratepayers, and that’s pretty significant in terms of helping ratepayers right across the province,” he proclaimed.
Siemens Wind Power chief executive David Hickey was careful not to blame the Liberal change in plans for the Tillsonburg closing, but plenty of others were happy to. Companies like Siemens come for the subsidies, and when the subsidies disappear, so do they, said independent industry analyst Tom Adams. Ontario has poured so much into its green energy dream the market is saturated, he said. Hickey said the market is shifting west: Alberta and Saskatchewan are “the key opportunities of the future.”
Full Story at The National Post
More articles about this.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/siemens-to-close-ontario-wind-turbine-blade-plant-340-jobs-to-be-lost/article35716643
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/07/18/hundreds-of-jobs-lost-as-siemens-closes-turbine-plant-in-tillsonburg-ont.html
http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/hundreds-of-jobs-lost-as-siemens-closes-turbine-plant-in-tillsonburg-ont/wcm/078e030b-cac9-4fda-b8d3-c3ae50840e14
And a related article from the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers:
HT/Colin Peterson, Sun Spot, and Phillip J Sullivan
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Another one down and another one gone and another one bites the dust…
There’s a difference between subsidies and permanent price supports that greens don’t seem to grasp. When a technology proves to be a dud, incapable of ever sustaining itself economically, the subsidies should dry up. Can’t say renewables weren’t given every chance and then some to succeed and we should all feel really good about that, but they just aren’t able to answer the bell. Pity.
Ontario Demand at 7:00 a.m. EST 15,773 MW
Market Demand at 7:00 a.m. EST 17,725 MW
Hourly Output by Fuel Type at 7:00 a.m. EST Nuclear 10,953 MW Hydro 3,809 MW Gas 1,049 MW Wind 192 MW Solar 26 MW Bio fuel 26 MW
Outrageous that wind installed capacity is 3,983 MW. First to the grid, at this hour wind is producing 192 MW.
Useless pieces of junk. My outrage and anger at what has been done to our beautiful countryside and winged creatures for some mad, insane ideology, is immeasurable.
It is pure sabotage aimed to destroy the economies of the West, our power infra structure, our educational system, health care, food production, financial system, you name it. It’s all planned policy: http://green-agenda.com
Tool up and make bigger blades; it is not rocket science.
Carbon fibre: the wonder material with a dirty secret
Carbon fibre is increasingly celebrated as a wonder material for the clean economy. Its unique combination of high strength and low weight has helped drive the wind power revolution and make planes more fuel efficient.Carbon fibre turbine blades can be longer and more rigid than traditional fibreglass models, making them more resilient at sea and more efficient in less breezy conditions.
Auto makers are also waking up to the material’s potential to make lighter and more efficient vehicles. McLaren recently announced plans to open a factory in Sheffield to manufacture carbon fibre sports cars, and BMW’s i3 is fitted with a carbon fibre passenger unit – the first such mass-produced car.
But carbon fibre has a dirty secret: the hi-tech material is wasteful to produce and difficult to recycle.
I liked the bit at the end of that article – “The good news is that carbon fibre products last a long time: the current generation of wind turbine blades and electric vehicles won’t be heading to the wrecking yard for at least another decade.”
I have two metal cars sitting out front right now – eleven and thirteen years old. Neither one is likely to head for the wrecking yard for at least another five years (presuming we continue to manage dodging the idiots in their plastic hamster cars…).
Not that most of those vehicles are going to be around for even ten years – virtue signaling wears out very quickly; they might last as long as five years before being disposed of for the latest symbol of piety. (Wealth signaling, on the other hand, seems to be very conservationist – I have seen many an “old money” person boasting that they still drive the Rolls-Royce that their grandparents bought.)
Yeah, I think I’ll keep my 2001 Escape going. Just need to take it to the shop for a tuneup. I would almost give my eyeteeth for my old 1970 Chevy Impala V-8.
Hydro One just bought a US electricity producer. When commenting on the deal the US company explained that it was beneficial to its customers, employees and pensioners. The “pensioners” part has me worried.
Fairy tales can come true. It can happen to you….
I’m just glad I live in the real world, not whatever sheltered closet these dimwitted nincompoops inhabit. I will never understand it, not at all.
It would do a world of good for some of these CEOs to read Sun Tzu. One of his major lessons is that anything you do that does not contribute directly to your objective is going to cost you.