We the undersigned urge you to implement a Feed-in Tariff program in Alberta in order to stimulate the economy and the jump-start the renewable energy sector, all at no cost to the government.
A feed-in tariff is simply a guaranteed price set by the government for anyone who wants to sell renewable electricity to the grid, and a guarantee that they will have access to the grid to do so. Although overall electricity prices rise slightly in the short-term, in the longer term they stabilize as prices become increasingly independent of conventional fuel costs. For anyone who generates power under a feed-in tariff program, the income more than offsets any electricity price increases.
Feed-in tariffs have been extremely successful in Germany and Spain as well as over 20 other countries, where they have encouraged small, medium, and large-scale production of electricity from solar, wind, and other renewable sources. For instance Germany currently generates 12.5% of its electricity from renewable sources, while employing more than 215,000 people in the renewable energy sector, as a result of implementing feed-in tariffs, according to the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Alberta has extensive solar and wind resources and we should allow the citizens to make better use of them.
There are many reasons why we must use renewable energy:
- Combat climate change.
- Create local jobs, industry and innovations.
- Diversify the energy supply.
- Foster local technical skills.
- Reduce the costs of renewable energy infrastructure.
- Minimize grid losses by encouraging local power generation.
- Replace aging power plants with clean alternatives.
- Give communities the power to be part of the solution.
Please take this simple step to both stimulate the economy and combat climate change, at no cost to the government.
Thank you for your time and consideration
