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Sarnia-Lambton is poised to take advantage of a new provincial commitment to Green energy. So says Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership general manager George Mallay, reacting Thursday to new regulations for the Green Energy Act.
The rules include a requirement for domestic content that ensures 25 per cent of wind and 50 per cent of solar projects be produced in Ontario. Mallay said that could draw more manufacturing and servicing jobs to an area already ahead of the curve on green energy. “We’ve aggressively positioned Sarnia-Lambton for renewable energy projects,” he said. “We hope we’ll be successful in bringing more jobs.” Mallay said his group has been marketing the community at green energy trade shows across North America, part of an effort to diversify Sarnia’s economy.
“We can have existing companies in our area going after contracts because every time a wind turbine is put up you need cranes, engineering capabilities,” he said. Lambton College is also getting in on the act, offering a alternative energy technology program to produce workers ready to enter a green energy job market. “There will be a lot of opportunities for graduates,” Mallay said.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, who chairs the economic partnership, said the new rules are a “carrot” for home-grown green manufacturing. “We now have to fight our way through every other economic development commission that has decided to get into the game,” he said. “Despite this policy, there are a number of reasons why we have the largest solar farm in North America being built here,” Bradley said, referring to First Solar’s massive project on the city’s southeast side.
Just a day after announcing the new rules, government officials announced a plan to create manufacturing jobs building residential and small commercial wind turbines in Windsor. The province is providing $2.7 million to help the company establish its Ontario operations, while the company is investing an additional $2.7 million. The investment will create 174 new jobs by 2012, officials predict. The government hopes to create more than 50,000 jobs in the next three years as projects get underway.
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