the WTO panel found that the FIT program did not qualify as an excluded procurement because, in its opinion, the energy purchased by the Ontario Power Authority was resold on commercial terms by the Government of Ontario and other public hydro entities. The Appellate Body agreed that the program did not benefit from the GATT exemption for procurement but for narrower, more complicated reasons. Their decision hinged on the fact that under the FIT program, the product to which the discriminatory local content requirements applied was generation equipment, while the product actually purchased by the Ontario government was electricity. In the Appellate Body’s view, the domestic content quota could not be said to “govern” the procurement of electricity, and therefore fell outside the scope of the exclusion.

so, if i were running the province, and i wanted to be a smartass, i could suggest that the wto ruling is calling for nationalization of the energy sector.

coal is one thing as there's a major input variable, but if water is publicly owned and wind and sun aren't owned at all i don't see why we should open power plant construction up to the private sector. that is to say that i don't see any reason why the government shouldn't build solar and wind and water plants and run them on cost; i don't see why we should collectively agree to allow somebody to profit off of generation.

it's not about market rules or natural laws, it's just about what one decides is "fair". and, of course, about business controlling government and saying "no, we won't allow this, we can profit off of it.".

i mean, the price of electricity in this theoretical grid doesn't actually measure anything except supply/demand, which is artificially manipulated. it's pretty much just a fiat scheme by a handful of wily business people. and i really don't see why we should pay into it.

there was a big kerfuffle a while back about being taxed for breathing, but we're increasingly getting to the reality where we're paying (quite a bit) for sunlight.