Thanks to everyone to attended the Kawartha Home and Cottage Show this past weekend. Flanagan and Sun Inc was the only renewable energy company at the show!

I spoke to a great number of people who are interested in renewable energy. The common theme seemed to be that people are frustrated with the cost of electricity and wanted to look at alternatives. Many people were hoping that going off-grid would be a solution; sadly, that is not a great option for the vast majority of people (we do lots of off-grid installations but it is usually only appropriate for people in remote locations where the cost of bringing the electrical grid to them is prohibitively expensive).

The two remaining potential options for renewables for homeowners are microFIT and net metering. Since the net metering program is under review, I am advising people to wait on pursuing that option until the details are made known. microFIT, while not as lucrative as it once was, can still be a good investment for the right situation (south facing roof with about 1000 sq ft and no shading … the south facing roof should be rectangular in shape without dormers, chimneys, or other appurtenances).

If you are considering a microFIT project, don’t hesitate to contact Flanagan and Sun to discuss your options.

The IESO announced that version 4.0 of the microFIT Program is planned to open on June 21, 2016.

Version 4.0 microFIT program rules, contract, prescribed forms and supporting documents will be posted on that date. The IESO has been able to accelerate the timeline from the originally announced launch date of July 2016.

From June 19, 2016 to June 21, 2016, all functions of the My microFIT Home Page will be unavailable to allow for the necessary updates to be made for version 4.0. The My microFIT Home Page will be returned to full service after noon on June 21, 2016.

As a reminder, any active application that has not received an Application Approval Notice by the time version 4.0 is released will be terminated. If you would like to continue with your project, you may reapply under version 4.0, and you will be required to provide completed version 4.0 prescribed forms when you submit your new application.

Previous Updates …

April 6, 2016

Minister Chiarelli issued a ministerial directive to the IESO to provide direction for the microFIT, FIT and LRP programs.

Here are some highlights:

• microFIT applications will not be accepted after December 31, 2017 (policies will be implemented to transition to Net Metering projects instead)
• The total procurement target for FIT 5 projects will be 150MW as well as any unused procurement from microFIT and previous FIT iterations. Application window TBA but before September 1, 2016
• The Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) target will be 600MW for wind energy, 250MW for photovoltaic, 50MW for hydroelectric, and 30MW for bioenergy