Mr. Kitt is correct: it’s high time Canada had a fact-based debate on energy.
Fact: Wind energy is more than viable today – it is one of the lowest cost options we have for new generation. The productivity of wind turbines has increased significantly over the last five years, even as the cost of turbines has dropped by almost 30 per cent. BC Hydro recently reassessed the cost of wind energy in B.C., and found that it accounted for the bulk of B.C.’s lowest-cost renewable generation options – cheaper than run of river hydro, and even large hydro projects like Site C assuming equivalent financing costs. Moreover, wind provides long-term price stability, whereas fossil fuel generation is subject to rising fuel and carbon emission (or pollution control) costs.
Fact: Ontario Independent System Operator’s (IESO) 2013 Annual Report states: “Wind generation has taken on a whole new role in the Ontario electricity system – moving from a passive resource to one that is actively used to balance supply against demand. The dispatch of wind has become an effective tool to manage surplus baseload generation.”
Fact: Oil and gas are finite, depleting, polluting resources; wind is low-cost, abundant in B.C. and endlessly renewable.
Nicholas Heap, BC Regional Director
Canadian Wind Energy Association
Vancouver BC