With just 20 minutes to go until the Kathleen Wynne government presents its budget, we thought it was good timing to post this opinion from Financial Post editor Terence Corcoran this morning, on the Liberal government's electricity policy--particularly its Green Energy program--and what the (disastrous) result has been for Ontario.

If you like this, be sure to read related pieces by Parker Gallant and Ross McKitrick.

As you know, two community groups have appeal the Ministry of the Environment's approval of a wind power project on the South Shore of Prince Edward County at Ostrander Point. The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN) and the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC) have both filed appeals, PECFN's on the basis that the project will cause serious and irreversible harm to the natural environment, and APPEC on the basis of harm to human health.

An Ottawa-area reader wrote to the Ottawa Citizen, in response to a totally city-centric column by writer Kelly Egan, in which the columnist said he likes the Feed In tariff program because he thinks it helps small, local energy initiatives. So, so wrong.

If only the FIT program had done that, there actually would be jobs, there actually would be energy savings...but that's not what happened---the subsidy program was created for the giant corporate wind power industry.

Lawyer Eric Gillespie will appear on the Goldhawk Fights Back radio show today, Thursday, April 25th, 12:30 to 1. He will be discussing the impact of the Wiggins decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

I believe this appearance is a call-in.

Go to: http://www.zoomerradio.ca/ and click on the LISTEN LIVE button.

A decision came down from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last evening, which at first seems like a defeat for communities and people who suddenly find themselves predated upon by huge, subsidy-seeking wind power developers. The decision read that the plaintiffs in a legal action based on lost property values would not be able to proceed with their action.

With the tumultuous weather of the last few days, including a thunderstorm, one wonders, what happens to turbines in bad weather?

Answer: plenty.

Lightning strikes are commonplace and according to this article are responsible for 80% of the insurance claims for damage to turbine parts. They are also responsible for turbine equipment and blade fires. Read the article here: http://www.nachi.org/wind-turbines-lightning.htm…

We have a treat for you today, a photo of Prowind's Head Office in Hamilton. You may recall the original office was inside a building in Kemptville Ontario, where there was also a make-your-own-wine-and beer business. Well, now that Prowind (really headquartered in Germany) is consorting with the likes of EDP, GE and Boralex, they have come up in the world, and need to be closer to their huge projects in the Woodstock area.

Energy economist Robert Lyman has provided us a copy of his letter to MPP Lisa MacLeod in support of Bill 39 for the Affordable Energy Act, which will be read today. The wind power corporate lobby group has been working hard to oppose this bill, which would see cancellation of the Feed In Tariff subsidy which is bankrupting Ontario and providing huge subsidies to wind power developers, return of local land use planning control for renewable energy projects, and the requirement that wind power projects provide power at competitive prices.

It's not pretty.

It's actually endangering the economic health of this province.

What is it? Ontario's poorly thought out Green Energy and Green Economy Act.

Here is a summary of the report released by the Fraser Institute, written by University of Guelph ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES economics prof Ross McKitrick, prepared by Ottawa energy economist Robert Lyman.

This a short summary worthy of forwarding to your friends and family who may be unaware the high costs of Ontario's renewable power plan.

National Post columnist Scott Stinson weighs in on Ontario's power situation today, saying the province is paying a very high price for "green energy."

Labelling the government's handling of this issue as "spectacular mishandling" and an example of poor governance (we would venture to say there's more than a dollop of misfeasance in there, too), Stinson says government actions have had a "punitive" effect on taxpayers.