Bill 42 explained in plain English
Affordable Energy and Restoration of Local Decision Making Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 42, the Affordable Energy and Restoration of Local Decision Making Act, 2012, amends Ontario's Electricity Act and Environmental Protection Act to repeal the feed-in tariff program and transfer authority for renewable energy approvals to municipalities.
This bill amends the Electricity Act, 1998, and the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. It repeals provisions related to the feed-in tariff program under the Electricity Act and introduces new rules for connecting renewable energy sources to the grid. It also shifts the responsibility for issuing renewable energy approvals for large-scale wind or solar facilities from the Director to municipalities, and allows municipalities to create by-laws concerning renewable energy generation facilities. Decisions made by municipalities in this regard can be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.
- Amends the Electricity Act, 1998 to repeal provisions related to the feed-in tariff program.
- Introduces new conditions for connecting large-scale renewable energy sources to the grid, requiring consultation with and authorization from the Minister after consulting the relevant municipality.
- Amends the Environmental Protection Act, 1990 to transfer the authority to issue renewable energy approvals for large-scale wind or solar facilities from the Director to municipalities.
- Grants municipalities the authority to enact by-laws regarding renewable energy generation facilities.
- Establishes that decisions made by municipalities regarding renewable energy approvals can be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.
- Municipalities
- The Minister responsible for energy
- The Director (formerly responsible for renewable energy approvals)
- Developers and owners of renewable energy projects (specifically large-scale wind or solar facilities)
- The Ontario Municipal Board
- Parties to contracts under the feed-in tariff program
- The Minister must consult with a municipality before authorizing the connection of a renewable energy source to the grid under certain conditions.
- Municipalities are responsible for issuing renewable energy approvals for large-scale wind or solar facilities.
- Municipalities can make by-laws related to renewable energy generation facilities.
- Decisions of municipalities regarding renewable energy approvals are appealable to the Ontario Municipal Board.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Specific provisions (subsection 4 (1) and sections 6, 7, and 8) come into force six months after the Act receives Royal Assent.
- Other provisions (subsections 4 (2) and (3)) come into force on the later of the day subsection 4 (1) comes into force, or the day subsection 1 (8) of the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act, 2007 comes into force.
- The definition of 'large-scale renewable energy source' is prescribed by regulations.
- The definitions of 'large-scale solar facility' and 'large-scale wind facility' are prescribed by regulations.
- The bill does not specify the exact date of Royal Assent, which affects the commencement dates of its provisions.
- The bill text does not detail the specific conditions or restrictions the Minister may impose when authorizing a connection to the grid.
Repeals provisions dealing with the feed-in tariff program and establishes new procedures for connecting renewable energy sources to the grid, requiring ministerial consultation with municipalities.
Source: Sections 1, 2, and 3
Transfers the authority to issue renewable energy approvals for large-scale wind or solar facilities from the Director to municipalities, and grants municipalities the power to create by-laws concerning renewable energy generation facilities. Decisions by municipalities on these approvals are appealable to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Source: Section 4
Modifies provisions related to permits and approvals for renewable energy projects concerning water resources.
Source: Section 4 (2) and (3)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced