Public/Private Sunshine

Crown-owned Ontario Power Generation (OPG), under the watchful eye of the Wynne government, is expanding into utility-scale, ground-mounted solar projects at three Ontario locations. Earlier this month, OPG announced partnership with Missouri-based SunEdison. SunEdison has special connections at Queen’s Park.

Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca’s wife, Utilia Amaral, is vice chair of the Canadian Solar Industries Association board of directors and is Managing Director, Strategic Affairs (Canada) at SunEdison.

Amaral has deep Queen’s Park connections. She was director of policy in the minister’s office of the Minister of Consumer Services. She was also a director of policy in the MInistry of Environment.

Post Script March 11, 2016: Amaral now chairs the Canadian Solar Industries Association and has moved from SunEdison to work as a consultant at C2Solutions.

11 Comments

  1. Wow! Don’t we all wish we had these kinds of connections? Sure pays to be a spouse of a Liberal MPP! I am sure with this “transparent” Wynne led Liberal government that it was all done in the normal manner befitting the big election win and the RFP process managed “ever so nicely” by the appointees to the OPG board.

  2. What does it have to take to make a “conflict of interest”? Is this not criminal, almost like insider trading in the stock market? Unlike Mike Crawley who made deals after leaving office, this is current!

  3. National Weather Service Forecast Office

    ‘Average Annual Daytime Clouds Coverage’

    This map, which includes parts of Ontario, shows the: “Mean Sky Cover, Sunrise to Sunset, Annual”.

    Daytime cloud cover percentage is a big factor with solar panels and electricity generation.

    There is other data on this topic but a cloud map is handy tool. Shows the areas with the most and least daytime percentages of cloud coverage on an annual basis.

    http://www.erh.noaa.gov/ctp/features/2013/sky_cover

    • io9, June 3, 2014

      ‘A Map Of Where In The U.S. You Get The Most Sunlight’

      Map data is complied from CDC’s (NLDAS) Daily Sunlight Data

      The blue areas have the least sunlight and extend right into southern parts of Canada.The blue areas on the map correspond quite well with the above Cloud Cover Map.

      http://www.io9.com/a-map-of-where-in-the-u-s-you-get-the-most-sunlight-1585334244

      Natural Resources Canada

      Map of the Photovoltaic Potential of Canada > Map section

      http://pv.nrcan.gc.ca

      Comparison maps show where the most sunlight across North America is. Information should be put into context.

      Canadian information would be in the blue area on the above io9 map at least for Ontario?

      Just looking at the Canadian Photovoltaic map does not reveal the whole picture.

  4. The Brattle Group, July 13, 2015

    ‘Study by Brattle Economists Quantifies the Benefits of Utility-Scale Solar PV’

    Key findings:

    The generation cost of energy from 300 MW utility-scale solar PV is about 1/2 the cost per kWh for an equivalent 300 MW of 5kW residential-scale solar systems.

    Avoids about 50% more carbon emissions than the equivalent amount of residential-scale PV solar.

    http://www.brattle.com/news-and-knowledge/news/study-by-brattle-economists-quantifies-the-benefits-of-utility-scale-solar-pv

    • The Brattle Group has done prior consulting work for the Ontario government.

      Google search leads to other consulting work done for Ontario government agencies.

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