July 13, 2010, Guelph, Ont. – Ag Energy Co-operative is urging everyone in the agricultural community to lean hard on their local MPP to strike down the proposal by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to reduce the contract price by 27 per cent for microFIT ground-mounted solar systems.

This announcement comes less than a year after the launch of the OPA’s program, and well before the true extent of participation by small generators can be accurately assessed.

“It is simply unjust to those who followed the prescribed rules, performed due diligence and outlaid capital, to be denied the price that inspired the stimulus without warning,” says Ag Energy CEO Mike Bouk. “Most of all, though, the decision is not well founded,”

Ag Energy president William Ravensbergen adds that the proposal “undermines the credibility of the entire program, not just ground mount microFIT solar projects. It also ignores the savings resulting from there being no need for the construction of new distribution and transmission lines for such systems.”

Ag Energy is asking farmers to lobby Premier Dalton McGuinty, their local MPP, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Ontario Power Authority, to honour all applications received to date at the original 80.2 cents/kWh. It’s also asking the government to consider the effect of this latest proposal on all stakeholders, current and future, including those who stand to lose jobs and/or an opportunity to invest, when finalizing any decisions on this matter.

Ag Energy Co-operative is an independent, farmer-owned co-operative formed in 1988 to provide energy products and services to its members and customers within Ontario agriculture. It represents half of the natural gas and one-third of the electricity consumed by Ontario agriculture.