Ontario Power Authority’s “Development of a New Large Renewable Procurement Process – Initial Engagement Feedback and Interim Recommendations” report was submitted to the Minister of Energy on August 30, 2013 and is now available for review through the link below. The report summarizes the results of the OPA’s engagement and other research activities and provides the OPA’s interim recommendations.
See the Initial Engagement Feedback and Interim Recommendations Report.
On June 12, 2013, the Minister of Energy directed the OPA to make changes to the FIT Program, including removing large projects from the program and developing a new competitive procurement process that considers input from stakeholders, municipalities and Aboriginal communities to help identify appropriate locations and siting requirements for these projects.
As discussed in greater detail in the report, the OPA proposes the following interim recommendations for the Minister of Energy’s consideration:
Leading to the launch of the procurement
- Continue and expand the municipal, First Nation and Métis, and stakeholder engagement activities in the fall of 2013
- The Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP) should advise on quantity and timing of new resources to be procured
- Generation procurement should follow the provincial and/or regional electricity system need
- Conduct multiple successive rounds of procurements (e.g., whether by technology, size or area of need)
- Procurement need, goals and expectations need to be clearly set out and understood by all parties
- Municipal electricity generation preferences should be considered
- Conduct local outreach prior to procurement commencement
Components to be included in the procurement
- Continue procuring through the Request-for-Proposal (RFP) model
- Project bid price should remain a key RFP evaluation factor
- Proponent experience and financial capability should be considered
- Continue to encourage community, Aboriginal, municipal and public sector entity participation through procurement incentive mechanisms
- Site due diligence evidence should be required
- Interconnection information and cost estimates provided earlier in the process
- Provide greater municipal control over land use and siting
- Require community engagement sessions and council deputations during the RFP phase
- Minimum community acceptance criteria should be considered
- Further clarity on OPG participation is needed
- Conduct further research on technology bundling
The OPA will be undertaking additional engagement activities on the interim recommendations in the fall to further inform the development of the new competitive procurement process and will also incorporate the feedback that is being received by the Ministry as part of the ongoing LTEP review. This engagement activity information will be posted to the web page as it becomes available. In the meantime, feedback on the development of the large renewable procurement process and the interim recommendations report can be sent to lrp@powerauthority.on.ca.
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