Syntaris Power

Despite small role in renewable energy Mergers and Acquisitions boom, Canada is set to take off says PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Sector support to help spur venture capital, corporate and private investment activity is needed.

Calgary and Toronto, November 12, 2010 – Despite an all-time high in M&A deal volume in the renewable energy sector around the world, Canada is poorly represented, according to a report from PwC.

Transaction growth in the industry has largely occurred outside of North America, favouring companies in Europe and Asia. In 2010, a total of 321 renewable energy transactions have been announced to date internationally.

Canada’s share of the deal activity in North America has decreased. In 2010, only 22% of deals had a Canadian target, compared to 34% in 2009 and 30% in 2008. This is far below the average for the energy and mining sectors where global deals with a Canadian target average 10% to 20 % higher.

Three-quarters of the deal activity to date is from wind, solar and hydro targets with biofuel, diversified and other renewable energy targets representing the remaining 25%. Hydro deal volumes are the highest, 18% higher than in 2009 while solar deal volumes are 16% higher.

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OTTAWA — B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell ranks No. 1 in terms of dealing with fiscal policy whereas Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario, is the weakest, according to an analysis conducted by the Fraser Institute think-tank released Monday.

Further, the study’s authors suggest premiers from Western Canada tend to be better fiscal managers than their counterparts in central and Eastern Canada.

“Of the 10 premiers we examined, Premier Campbell simply did a better job than the others of managing his province’s public finances and pursuing sound long-term economic policies,” said Niels Veldhuis, Fraser Institute’s senior economist and co-author of analysis.

“Given the size of Ontario’s economy, the last-place ranking of McGuinty is particularly alarming. The lesson here is that McGuinty should follow Premier Campbell’s lead and stick to prudent spending increases, lower taxes, and surplus budgets.”

The Ontario government has mapped a slow road to balancing the province’s books. It has projected a deficit of $19.7 billion for fiscal year 2010-11, and would remain in the red until 2017-18.

Meanwhile, British Columbia recently announced its deficit for the present fiscal year would be slightly smaller than previously projected, coming in at $1.4 billion. British Columbia anticipates returning to budget surplus in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

The Fraser Institute examined the relative fiscal performance of 10 Canadian premiers for the duration of their time in office up to the most recent year of available data, which was the 2009-10 fiscal year. Each premier received an overall score out of 100, based on their performance on three components: government spending, taxes, and debt and deficits.

Campbell was first overall with a score of 89.1. Former Manitoba premier Gary Doer ranked second, 78.2, followed by Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador, at 71.0. Fourth and fifth place went to Alberta’s Ed Stelmach, 66.4, and Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall, 57.9 — and as a result western Canadian premiers clinched four of the top five spots in the overall rankings.

By Paul Vieira, Financial Post

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Despite the recent slowdown, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it still sees Canada to be the leader in economic growth among major industrialized countries this year and next.

The finding is contained in the organization’s latest world economic outlook, released Wednesday, which suggested growth in the emerging markets would advance three times faster than rich nations next year.

The IMF forecast indicated the Canadian economy is set to grow 3.1% this year and 2.7% in 2011, which would be tops among major industrialized economies. Plus, next year’s expected advance of 2.7% would be ahead of the average 2.2% growth anticipated for the other big industrialized economies, such as Japan, the United States and Europe.

According to the IMF, the Canadian economy has been “relatively buoyant,” citing household balance sheets and a banking system that are in far better shape relative to their industrialized peers. This has allowed the Bank of Canada to begin raising its benchmark rate, from 0.25% to 1% as of last month. However, most analysts believe the central bank, led by governor Mark Carney, is about to hold off on rate hikes for the foreseeable future as growth in the United States weakens, and the U.S. Federal Reserve contemplates additional liquidity injections through asset purchases, or quantitative easing.

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Province to pay higher rates for green power from ‘emerging technologies’

Not content to watch Ontario’s attractive rates for green energy draw billions of dollars in investment, the B.C. government is flirting with new rules to accommodate more clean electricity projects.

The proposed changes fall far short of Ontario’s controversial feed-in tariff (FIT) program, which offers premium rates in long-term purchasing contracts for renewable energy projects.

The B.C. government is looking at adopting its own FIT regulations this fall, but it will pay higher rates for green power only from “emerging technologies.” In B.C., solar power and wind power – a significant share of Ontario’s clean energy campaign – won’t qualify.

“We’re going to be more selective, not just throw as much as we can at the wall and see what sticks,” B.C. Energy Minister Bill Bennett said in an interview on Monday. “In B.C., we are going to be more attuned to what is good for the ratepayer.”

In addition to the B.C. version of FIT, investors are expecting larger projects to qualify for long-term contracts – at higher rates – under B.C.’s standing-offer program. Under that program, BC Hydro agrees to purchase energy from small energy projects at long-term, fixed rates.

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