On August 2, 2011, the Ministry of Energy directed the OPA to allow Suppliers under Ontario's Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program to obtain a waiver of the OPA's termination rights contemplated in section 2.4(a) of the FIT Contract.
Obtaining a waiver of this termination right is meant to expedite issuance of a Notice to Proceed (NTP) by reducing contractual termination risk and allowing Suppliers to procure financing for equipment orders.
Section 2.4(a) permits either the OPA or the Supplier to unilaterally terminate the FIT Contract at any time before the OPA issues a NTP and the Supplier has paid the Incremental NTP Security.
Different submissions and deadlines will apply to Capacity Allocation Required (CAR) Suppliers and Capacity Allocation Exempt (CAE) Suppliers.
CAR Suppliers requesting the OPA waive section 2.4(a) are required to submit the following documents: (i) the waiver and a Domestic Content (DC) Plan by October 14, 2011; and (ii) evidence of one or more agreements for the purchase of Generating Equipment demonstrating the Supplier will meet or exceed the Minimum Required Domestic Content Level, by November 30, 2011. The DC plan will be reviewed for completeness and substantiation by December 31, 2011.
CAE Suppliers are required to submit the waiver and DC plan by December 31, 2011.
In each case, OPA termination rights will be automatically reinstated if these deadlines are not met. Additionally, all Suppliers must continue to provide the OPA with a NTP Request and satisfy necessary NTP pre-requisites including a Renewable Energy Approval, Financing Plan, DC plan, and Impact Assessments.
The waiver and associated schedules are expected to be available shortly.
The OPA will be hosting a webinar to discuss the waiver process and answer questions on August 9, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. (ET). In the meantime, the OPA has requested Suppliers not contact their offices until after the webinar has been held. To participate in the webinar, you may log into the web link below. In order to ask a question, you will have to contact the toll-free number found below.
Toll Free Phone Number: 1 (866) 212 9078
Web link: http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/event/?event_id=2025
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