Wind-farm company can sue Ontario

By Shelby Wye

PICTON – Wind-power company Trillium Power has won the right to sue the Ontario government for preventing it from building four Lake Ontario wind projects.

Trillium is suing for $2.25 billion in damages, saying that was the amount it had expected to make if the projects had been allowed to continue.

One of the Toronto-based company’s projects was off the shore of Prince Edward County. It was in the final planning stages in 2010, but in 2011 the Ontario government nullified all offshore wind-power projects in the province.

Trillium was one of the companies most affected by that decision.

The company first went to court in the summer of 2012, but its suit was rejected. This week, however, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled to allow the lawsuit to continue.

In a press release, John Kourtoff, the president and chief executive officer of Trillium Power, said that improper actions were taken against the company by the government of former premier Dalton McGuinty.

“We want to work with the new Ontario government, and hope that they seriously consider a dialog with Trillium Power,” said Kourtoff. The company would prefer to be allowed to continue with the wind projects rather than sue, he said.

At the time the ban was imposed, the government said it was because of the lack of scientific studies around offshore wind projects.