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Mayor calls on premier to halt power plant shut-down

NEWS RELEASE PETER POLITIS, MAYOR OF COCHRANE ************************* On May 11, 2015 under the direction of the Minister of Energy, the province has ordered the shutdown of one of only a handful of environmentally progressive biomass plants in Nor

NEWS RELEASE

PETER POLITIS, MAYOR OF COCHRANE

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On May 11, 2015 under the direction of the Minister of Energy, the province has ordered the shutdown of one of only a handful of environmentally progressive biomass plants in Northern Ontario. 

Cochrane Power, a subsidiary of Northland Power, has been in operation for over 27 years setting the example of how modern and progressive societies minimize the world’s carbon footprint, while converting over 5 million tons of wood waste destined for landfills into, clean, renewable, environmentally responsible and cost effective energy. 

What is most perplexing is the Ontario government’s rigid commitment to the response that of all this somehow doesn’t matter, while they:

  • maintain a publically owned biomass plant that costs about four times more than Cochrane Power;
  • force solar energy projects that cost about four times more and have none of the synergies mentioned below;
  • claim that there was a negotiation with Cochrane Power to renew their contract, when in reality there never was;
  • and claim that they provided an extension to the negotiating timeframe only to allow Cochrane Power to source other sources to buy their power, not to negotiate, knowing that Ontario regulations don’t even allow that and while the Minister himself issues an actual moratorium on negotiations the very same day;

The seemingly unilateral decision by the Minister of Energy to doggedly advance this questionable direction, against all rationale suggesting otherwise, is curious to say the least. 

The approach does not provide the thousands of families in our region and the environment that have all been put at risk by it, an adequate justification from their government.  

In short decision:

  • Has created a need for new provincial investment to replace the biomass heat that was heating our recently built Community Center, which was designed with a backup heating system not adequate enough to be the primary source of heat;
  • Has removed $750,000 from our water revenues which represents about 30% of all water revenues and is integral to our ability to pay for maintaining critical infrastructure and public safety.  This will have to be replaced with provincial subsidy or our municipality’s ability to meet the provincial standards will be at risk;
  • Has placed at risk over 500 families who work in facilities depending on this plant, which represents about 20% of our community’s entire workforce;
  • But most curious is that now, 175,000 tons a year of wood waste are being diverted to somewhere, inevitably contributing to the perpetuation of climate change in Ontario;
  • This choice actually increases the carbon footprint of the two forestry mills that were depending on their biomass waste to be converted into reliable, renewable, environmentally sustainable energy, at a cost to Ontarians of about a quarter of the cost of other sources of energy the province is committed to, such as its publically run biomass plant and solar energy contracts;

To add even more perspective, our current landfill does not have the capacity for even one year of this waste. 

Our new landfill site being planned as we speak has a 300,000 m3 capacity, which is projected to sustain our part of the region for 30 years. 

The waste being diverted by the provincial government forcing this direction will actually exhaust the entire new landfill in 2.5 years instead. 

In essence, as a result of this curious decision by the Province, we would require 13 times (or 1,300%) more the amount of landfills in the same 30 year period, to now take what was once a progressive example of modern environmental stewardship and innovative cost effective energy production, only to store it as waste contributing to the degradation of our environment and climate instead. 

It begs the question, what does this direction actually extrapolate into across the province in terms of increasing the dependency on landfills?

The facts seem to conclude that this is more bureaucratic confusion and confined thinking than practical application of the circumstances. 

Cochrane Power is caught between the end of its contract and the Minister of Energy’s misclassification of this facility as a “NUG”.

It is not a NUG, it is a cogeneration plant that uses biomass. 

Seems simple enough to correct, but for some reason, so far, the province curiously chooses to initiate a chain reaction of unnecessary negative and less than responsible impacts on regional families and the environment, rather than react.

I’m respectfully calling on the Premier to take notice and to provide the leadership required here to get this unnecessary set of circumstances back on a productive track. 

I’m reaching out to Premier Wynne to have the Ministry of Energy properly reclassify this facility as the cogeneration plant that it is, while providing Cochrane Power an avenue to immediately begin negotiations with the government’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) branch. 

I’m asking that the terms of the negotiation take into account the government’s own directives to include the impacts and benefits on the region, including Cochrane Power’s critical roles in forestry, agriculture and the municipality’s reliance on non-carbon emitting heat, along with its modern and progressive mitigation of climate change.

Please visit www.savecochranepower.com to lend your support.

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