Published On Thu Jun 09 2011John SpearsBusiness Reporter
The Canadian Solar Industry Association is trying to raise $2 million from its members to mount a media campaign in Ontario, promoting the benefits of solar.
A message to members says the campaign is needed because “our industry has become threatened due to political rhetoric and a misunderstanding within the province of the value we have created.”
“It is now a critical time to speak out and clarify these misapprehensions,” says the letter from association president Elizabeth McDonald.
“This is not a political campaign but an information campaign – we must remain non-partisan,” it says. The letter names no political party.
But Ontario’s Conservative party leader Tim Hudak has taken dead aim at the energy policies of the current Liberal government, which have promoted solar energy and offered solar producers premium prices for their power.
An Ontario election is scheduled for Oct. 6.
Hudak has vowed to cancel the province’s feed-in tariff rates, which pay solar producers prices ranging from 44.3 cents to 80.2 cents a kilowatt hour for electricity. To qualify, power developers must source a large portion of their equipment in Ontario.
Hudak also says he’ll cancel the province’s agreement with the South Korean firm Samsung, which includes a big commitment to manufacture solar equipment and develop solar power.
In an interview, McDonald said solar needs to concentrate on two key demographic segments.
“The first one is women 25 to 65, who are very, very supportive of renewable energy and the environmental impact, but know very little.”
“The second would be men over 35 who are very concerned about money, but don’t understand actually how things work, etcetera,” she said.
“We felt that if there was going to be a lot of discussion about the impact of solar, about what solar costs, what jobs have been created, that we should be the ones who are telling the story.”
The association wants its members to work locally, pointing out jobs that are being created by firms in their communities, McDonald said.
Polling done for the association has disclosed broad support for renewable energy, but little detailed understanding of the benefits, including the jobs being created, she said:
“There’s so much going on, it’s about time everybody understood.”
If CanSIA succeeds in raising the $2 million from its members, about 75 per cent would be spent on “media buys – mostly television,” McDonald’s letter says.
“This is predicated on a campaign that will have a real, material and measurable effect on public and political opinion.”
Several companies have already offered up to $50,000 each toward the cost of the campaign, the letter says.
Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/article/1005617--solar-industry-ponders-ontario-media-campaign
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