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Solar Panel Installer (Stock)

The Ontario government has made amendments to its net metering regulation, under the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, and consequential amendments to O. Reg. 389/10 (General) under the Energy Consumer Protection Act, 2010.

The changes clarify and enable third-party ownership arrangements for net metering, such as leasing, financing and power purchase agreements.

It also expands access to the program.

Before these amendments, the net metering program required the customer to own or operate the solar panel system to qualify as an eligible generator.

Now, they don’t!

“By allowing families and businesses to lease rooftop solar systems and benefit from net metering, we are eliminating barriers, including up-front costs for customers,” said Todd Smith, Minister of Energy.

Just late last year, the province’s Ontario independent energy regulator, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), confirmed in response to a request for clarification by the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) that third-party ownership of net-metered solar generation is in fact allowed.

This marks a stark improvement in solar policy in a Canadian province that has shunned any support for renewable energy technology in the past years.

Derick Lila
Derick is a Clark University graduate—and Fulbright alumni with a Master's Degree in Environmental Science, and Policy. He has over a decade of solar industry research, marketing, and content strategy experience.

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