Today the Independent Electricity System Operator has announced the projects that were successful under the Province’s Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process. We are very pleased to announce that none of the three projects proposed in Addington Highlands or North Frontenac were on the list. This means, Northpoint I, Northpoint II and the Denbigh wind project did not receive contract awards under LRP I (2015).

There is no doubt that the hard work of our communities and BEARAT members made a significant impact in influencing this decision. Thank you to Mayor Higgins and the North Frontenac Council whose persuasive outreach to media and decision makers helped our case.

A special thank you goes to everyone who contributed to this campaign. Your time, donations, letters, political pressure and support have made a significant difference.

While this is a positive day and a win for our communities, it is still a general loss for Ontario’s ratepayers and rural citizens as the government continues to pursue unnecessary, expensive and destructive wind energy projects in a way that does not respect local communities.

Today is a day to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that we have been able to keep these projects from proceeding in our communities for at least another year. There are two more LRP processes planned: one for 2016 and another for 2017. Work must begin almost immediately to ensure NextEra and RES cannot simply recycle their last proposals for a win in either of these procurements.

BEARAT will be meeting shortly to develop a plan for 2016 to ensure we do not see project awards in our community during the next round of LRP bids and will be in touch soon. In order to see this through, we will need to continue to work together as a community.