Vision
To make Ontario a global leader in the development of renewable energy, clean distributed energy and conservation, creating thousands of jobs, economic prosperity, energy security, and climate protection.

Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the development of a sustainable energy economy that protects the environment while streamlining the approvals process, mitigates climate change, engages communities and builds a world-class green industrial sector.

It will enable all Ontarians to participate and benefit from green energy as conservers and generators, at the lowest cost to consumers.

Cost/Price
Our Green Energy Act would provide a lower cost option to Ontarians.

Evidence submitted to the Ontario Energy Board hearings shows that a renewably-powered electricity system with a greater emphasis on conservation and efficiency would be at least 11 per cent less expensive, and potentially as high as 32 per cent less expensive, than the Ontario Power Authority's proposed Integrated Power System Plan.

Moreover, as Moody's Investment Services noted in May 2008, traditional generating technologies have fixed designs whose costs are rising rapidly while renewable technologies are still experiencing significant advancements in terms of energy conversion efficiency and cost reductions.

Results
The Green Energy Act can deliver on Ontario's Climate Change Strategy while creating a world-leading clean-tech industry and enabling Ontario to achieve aggressive targets:

• 6000 MW of conservation by 2015 with an additional 2.5% annual (compounding) reduction in energy resource needs from conservation from 2015 onwards
• 10,000 MW of new installed renewable energy by 2015, over and above 2003 levels
• 25,000 MW of new installed new renewable energy by 2025, over and above 2003 levels
• 1,500 MW of new installed clean distributed energy by 2015, and 3,000 MW by 2025, as of the introduction of this Act.
• Achievement of the approximately 30% reduction in natural gas consumption that has been identified as economic by 2017 in studies for the gas utilities.