02 Monday Jun 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
In many locations advance polls are open until June 6th, with another date or two available.
To find out where advance polling stations are near you, check your voter’s card (should have arrived by mail last week) or check Elections Ontario online at :
http://wemakevotingeasy.ca/en/more-ways.aspx
There are other voting options available, too; details on the Elections Ontario website.
02 Monday Jun 2014
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Coreen Corcoran, government subsidies, Libertarian Party, Ontario, Ontario election, Ontario Libertarian Party, Ontario Progressive Conservative and Green parties, wind farm North Gower, wind farm Ottawa, wind farm Richmond, wind power, wind power generation
We have already published the statements from candidates for the Ontario election from the Liberal, NDP, Ontario Progressive Conservative and Green parties; we contacted Libertarian Party candidate Coreen Corcoran, who provided us with the following, as relates to large-scale wind power generation in Ontario and in specific, the only project currently proposed for the Ottawa area, in North Gower-Richmond.
Ms Corcoran writes:
Ontario Libertarian point of view
We do not believe that any industry should be given preferential treatment by the government over another industry, to the extent that the government should be out of the subsidy business all together. There are no private companies willing to stick their necks out to fund and own the risk of running wind farms 100%. They are relying on government subsidies to create an industry that is not wanted or even viable at this point in time. We would stop risky energy programs and leave it to the market to test unproven technologies. If it could survive in a free-market, let it, but it is doubtful the current technology would have any support. If a free-market wouldn’t support it, why should the taxpayers of Ontario?My personal point of view
I saw the documentary Windfall a couple of years ago, and after seeing that film, I knew that wind power in its current form wasn’t sustainable. The physical impacts on the people who live near the turbines, the many birds and bats that are killed by the blades, and the huge government grants required to sustain this industry are all reasons why we need to stop it in its tracks. Maybe someday there will be a way to harness wind power on a large scale, but giant turbines covering our landscape and taking people out of their homes is not the way to do it.You have my support.
Thank You,
Coreen Corcoran
Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com or write to us at PO Box 3, North Gower K0A 2T0
30 Friday May 2014
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Gordon Kubanek, green energy, Green Energy Act, Green Party Ontario, Jack Uppal, Lisa MacLeod, Nepean-Carleton, Not a Willing host, Ontario election, Ontario Liberal Party, Ontario NDP, Ontario Progressive Conservatives, Ric Dagenais, wind farm, wind farm North Gower, wind power projects
The Ottawa Citizen has a Riding Profile for Nepean-Carleton today, and senior writer Don Butler asked about proposed wind power projects, and opinions on “green” energy generally. Here are the responses.
Q: What is your position on the role green energy in Ontario’s power mix, including the creation of new wind farms in Nepean-Carleton?
LISA MACLEOD
Party: Progressive Conservative
Occupation: Current MPP for Nepean-Carleton
Green energy: MacLeod opposes the proposed wind turbine development in North Gower. “While I am not opposed to green energy, it is unsustainable, unaffordable, unreliable and, in many places, like our community, unwanted,” she says. A PC government would restore locally based decision-making about wind and solar projects and impose a moratorium on new industrial wind farms pending an independent health and environmental review. MacLeod points out that on any given day, wind and solar generate only one-to-three per cent of the province’s power supply. Nuclear power — which the PC’s would expand — accounts for more than half, supported by “cheap, affordable and green” water power and natural gas, she says.
JACK UPPAL
Party: Liberal
Occupation: Real estate agent
Green energy: Uppal says the Liberal government has modernized an electricity system that was “left in disarray” by the Mike Harris Conservatives. “We have ensured that Ontarians have the power they need, when they need it.” The Liberals have closed dirty coal generating plants and replaced them with clean energy such as wind and solar, Uppal says. By contrast, the PCs want to spend $15 billion on new nuclear power generation and cancel wind contracts — which could cost the province $20 billion in cancellation fees, he warns. In his response to the Citizen, Uppal didn’t say what his position is on the creation of new wind farms in the riding.
RIC DAGENAIS
Party: NDP
Occupation: Analyst with the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Green energy: Dagenais says the NDP supports renewable energy projects, but “will not force projects where communities are opposed and will ensure that communities are consulted.” The party would also ensure that contracts for small community-based energy projects aren’t automatically awarded to large corporations. As well, Dagenais says the party is committed to a full environmental assessment of all pipeline projects, would replace old buses with new efficient ones and would provide low-interest loans to property owners for energy-efficient retrofits, including the cost of solar panels.
GORDON KUBANEK
Party: Green
Occupation: High school teacher
Green energy: The Green party is “very supportive” of green energy generation that can be shown to be cost-effective and has the support of those who live near it, Kubanek says. Large wind turbines need to be a safe distance from people, which “excludes most regions of Nepean-Carleton,” he says. Even if all conditions are met, the provincial government should compensate homeowners near wind turbines if the value of their property declines, Kubanek says. One possible approach would be to reduce hydro rates by at least 50 per cent to compensate for any loss in home value, he says. “That would enable a market to be created for those homes and thus meet the needs of both the individual and the community.”
Read the full article here.
Contact us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
28 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy
Tags
all candidates, electricity bills Ontario, Gordon Kubanek, Green Energy Act, Jack Uppal, Liberal government, Lisa MacLeod, Nepean-Carleton, Ottawa Citizen, Ric Dagenais
Although not to be televised until Thursday, and then only for Rogers TV subscribers, the Ottawa Citizen carries a report on the debate in today’s edition, on page A 3.
Liberal candidate for Nepean-Carleton Jack Uppal said the Liberal government has “done very well over the last 10 years,” according to the report, by Don Butler.
PC incumbent Lisa MacLeod responded by saying that Ontario has the highest annual deficit and most accumulated debt of any province. Since the Liberals took office in 2003, the number of public sector workers has grown by 300,000: “Their plan is not workable. It’s not achievable.”
Ric Dagenais took issue with the Million Jobs Plan put forward by the PCs while Green Party candidate and Kars resident Gordon Kubanek said voters are tired of LIberal overspending but don’t like the Conservative plan to eliminate 100,000 jobs.
The candidates debated electricity bills and MacLeod blamed the Green Energy Act and the “bloated bureaucracies” at Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation.
Dagenais spoke on traffic congestion; Uppal said his party supports mass transit initiatives, which MacLeod added her party would “fight” to ensure Ottawa gets its fair share of funding for transit.
27 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
all candidates debates Ottawa, candidates, election Ontario 2014, Lisa MacLeod, Nepean-Carleton, Ottawa South, Ottawa West-Nepean
With regret, we must announce that scheduling challenges prevent us from organizing an energy-themed all-candidates’ meeting in Nepean-Carleton riding (home to PC energy critic Lisa MacLeod).
Here are some all-candidates’ meetings scheduled for Ottawa:
May 29, 7-9pm, in Ottawa South at Hillcrest high school, 1900 Dauphin Rd
June 4, 7-9pm, Ottawa Vanier at Centre de services Guigues, 159 Murray St
June 5th, 7-9pm, in Ottawa West Nepean at F.J McDonald School, 2860 Ahearn Ave
However, Rogers TV is running several Ottawa-area riding debates…available to Rogers subscribers only.
Here are the TV debates scheduled:
May 27 Ottawa South 7 PM
May 28 Ottawa-Orleans 7 PM
May 28 Ottawa Centre 8 PM
May 29 Ottawa West-Nepean 8 PM
May 29 Nepean-Carleton 9 PM
May 29 Carleton-Mississippi Mills 10 PM
May 28 Ottawa-Vanier 9 PM
Information available at rogerstv.com
We do plan however to present statements on wind power from the candidates in Nepean-Carleton, where the only wind power project has been proposed for the Ottawa area.
27 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Down Wind, Kincardine Ontario, legal actions, Rebecca Thompson, Shawn Drennan, wind farms, wind power developers, wind power industry, wind power Ontario
Sun News has filmed a news special on the wind power industry in Ontario, its effects on communities, and legal actions. “Down Wind” airs June 4th.
A promotional trailer may be seen at the website here: http://www.downwindmovie.com/
26 Monday May 2014
Posted in Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
CFRA, green energy contracts, Jan Carr, Ontario Power Authority Dr Jan Carr, power industry, renewables contracts, Rob Snow, Samsung, solar power generation, wind power contracts
Former CEO of the Ontario Power Authority Dr Jan Carr, will be Rob Snow’s guest on CFRA today, immediately following the 5 PM news.
Dr Carr has said that the power industry was “aghast” at the awarding of the renewables contract to Samsung, a company that had “no demonstrated expertise” in wind or solar power generation, and that the contract remains a horrific example of government procurement gone wrong.
The Samsung contract should be cancelled, he said in a letter to The Financial Post last week.
List to CFRA at 580AM, or live via http://www.cfra.com
26 Monday May 2014
Posted in Wind power
Tags
APPEC, legal actions wind farms, Loyalist heritage homes, Ostrander Point, prince Edward County, wind power generation project, winderies Prince Edward County
This is a fund-raiser with the accent on “fun”!
A tour of Loyalist heritage homes and a tour of three Country wineries…all to help in raising money for legal costs to protect Ostrander POint in Prince Edward County from a wind power generation project.
Visit the website for the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County for details
26 Monday May 2014
Posted in Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Canadian Wind Energy Association, CanWEA, cost wind power, cost-benefit analysis wind power, electricity bills, electricity generation, electricity prices, electricity prices Ontario, hydro bills, Ontario, Ontario electricity supply, Ontario Power Authority, Robert Hornung, Robert Lyman
Here from Ottawa-based energy economist Robert Lyman, a commentary on how Ontario’s electricity system has evolved. (You may also wish to read a letter in today’s Ottawa Citizen by wind industry lobby group the Canadian Wind Energy Association president Robert Hornung, who would have us believe wind power is the cheapest source of power available. )
For most of Ontario’s history, the official energy policy of successive provincial governments was generally the same. The Province sought to keep electricity prices as low as possible consistent with the goal of ensuring that Ontario consumers and industry had secure and reliable sources of supply. With the election of a Liberal government in 2003, the goal changed. Since then, the Government has raised electricity costs significantly, emphasizing reliance on expensive industrial wind turbines, solar plants and biomass for generation, and using higher rates to force consumers to cut back on their energy use.
The consequences of those policies have been a doubling of residential electricity rates and the ever-increasing share of renewable energy generation as part of the provincial electricity generation mix. According to data from the Ontario Power Authority, in 2014 biomass, industrial wind turbines and solar plants will provide about four per cent of Ontario electricity supply, but will cost consumers $1.933 billion dollars, or 17 per cent, of the total generation cost. The amount of renewable energy brought on line is expected to increase significantly by 2018, adding further to the costs.
The Ontario Long Term Energy Plan, published in December 2013, included a table projecting what this will mean for the average residential customer who consumes 800 KWh of electricity per month. Taking into account the costs of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, taxes and related regulatory charges, the average monthly bill will rise from $125 in 2013 to 181 in 2020, a 45 per cent increase. Large industrial users will see their rates rise from $79 per MWh in 2013 to $104 in 2020, a 32 per cent increase.
These increases do not take into the account the significant costs associated with having to provide significant back up capacity because the wind and solar plants are “intermittent” sources of supply. This means that they usually produce energy when it is not needed, and production from these plants cannot be varied to accommodate changes in demand. Ontario generation capacity now exceeds demand, and the Green Energy and Economy Act requires that renewable energy sources be given preferential access to the provincial grid over lower cost conventional supplies. The increases in rates do not take account of the cost of curtailing operations at existing plants or of losses on export sales. In 2013 this was about $1 billion.
So, do Ontario residents at least get more secure electricity supplies as a result of all these increased costs? The answer lies in…
Please read the rest of Mr LYman’s article here: ONTARIO ELECTRICITY – High Prices, Low Reliability
20 Tuesday May 2014
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
cost of wind power, cost-benefit analysis wind power, electricity generation, Feed In Tariff, FIT, hydro bills Ontario, Ontario electricity bills, renewable energy, renewable energy generation, renewable energy projects, renewable power, Robert Lyman, Scott Luft, solar power, wind farms, wind power
Wind power: not free
Here, from Ottawa-based energy-specialist economist Robert Lyman, a quick look at what many people don’t know (and aren’t getting told by the government or the wind power lobby) about the costs of generating power from wind and solar.
A must-read.
THE HIDDEN COSTS OF ONTARIO RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY GENERATION
Ontario residents can be forgiven if they fail to understand the public debate during the current (2014) provincial election about the costs of different types of electricity generation and why these have caused electricity rates for consumers to rise so much over the past ten years. The complexity of the system makes it difficult to explain the costs associated with one source of supply, namely the renewable energy generation (industrial wind turbines and solar power generators). In this note, I will nonetheless try to explain in layperson’s terms why these costs are significant.
Electricity supply in Ontario takes place within the framework of the policy and legislative framework established by the Ontario government, an important part of which is the Green Energy and Economy Act of 2009 (GEA). Historically, the goal of Ontario electricity policy was to keep electricity rates for consumers as low as possible consistent with the goal of maintaining adequate and reliable supply. Within the current framework, however, that is no longer the goal. The GEA seeks to stimulate investment in renewable energy projects (such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and biogas) and to increase energy conservation. To do this, it:
The guaranteed rates paid under the FIT system are not negotiated based upon the actual costs of production. In fact, the actual costs of production are largely unknown. …
Read the full analysis here: THE HIDDEN COSTS OF ONTARIO RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY GENERATION
Ottawa Wind Concerns 