Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province, has enacted legislation requiring utilities to get at least 15% of their power from renewables by 2010. This includes provisions for net metering and a minimum purchase price - initially 7.75 cents CDN / kWh, partially indexed to inflation.

What's really interesting is that the government has committed to jumping from 15% renewable by 2010 to 100% renewable by 2015. This will require at least 200 MW of generating capacity, a task made easier by P.E.I.'s coastal high wind speed zones (average speed at least 7.5 m/s).

In the words of the Minister of Environment, Energy and Forestry Jamie Ballem: “Islanders have told us they want Government to pursue cleaner sources of energy that can be produced right here in Prince Edward Island, reducing our reliance on imported energy and giving PEI some control over our own energy future...Prince Edward Island now has all the ground rules in place to allow us to encourage both large- and small-scale renewable energy developments.”