Tag Archives: Dutton-Dunwich

Ottawa area community groups petition Queen’s Park today

30 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Concerned Citizens of North Stormont leader Margaret Benke, Same rules for everybody.

April 30, 2018

The Ontario government realized there were inadequacies in their protocols for wind turbine noise and the assessment procedures needed in the approval process for new wind power projects, so they changed them.

And then gave the five newest wind power projects the option not to use the new rules.

As a result, the powerful power generators in projects that received contracts in 2016 but which are not yet built — in fact four don’t have Renewable Energy Approval yet — will be out of compliance with the new regulations the minute they start operating.

Four Ontario community groups think that’s not right.

They’re heading to Queen’s Park today as three MPPs present thousands of signatures on a Petition, asking the government to follow its own rules.

Representatives of Ottawa-area Concerned Citizens of North Stormont and Save The Nation will join their colleagues from Dutton Dunwich Opponents of Wind Turbines (DDOWT) and Wallaceburg Area Wind Concerns as the Petition is presented in the Legislature.

The Petition is related to the creation of “Transition Provisions” by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) in the Renewable Energy Approval process, which allows wind power developers to ignore new noise modelling guidelines, even for the newest unapproved power projects.

“The MOECC recognized that the previous requirements for turbine noise modelling were inadequate and they revised them,” says Bonnie Rowe, spokesperson for Dutton Dunwich Opponents of Wind Turbines (DDOWT), whose citizen group has applied for a Judicial Review of the Transition. “The noise modelling requirements are important to protect health and safety for people living near the turbines but now, the government has allowed the developers for the new projects to use the old ones — we think that’s wrong.

“If the government sets rules, especially for health, then everyone should have to follow them, no exceptions.”

Wind turbine noise has been linked to sleep disturbance, which in turn leads to other, serious health problems. According to Wind Concerns Ontario, documents received from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change #MOECC show that thousands of reports of excessive noise remain unresolved, and not responded to in Ontario.

MPPs presenting the petitions Monday are: Jeff Yurek, from Elgin-Middlesex-London where the Strong Breeze Wind Power Project is proposed for Dutton Dunwich; Monte McNaughton, from Lambton-Kent-Middlesex where the Otter Creek Wind Farm is proposed for the Wallaceburg area; and Jim McDonell, MPP for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, who will be delivering petitions on behalf of the North Stormont area where the Nation Rise Wind Farm is proposed, and also the Municipality of The Nation, where the Eastern Fields Wind Power Project is proposed.

Concerned Citizens of North Stormont: Margaret Benke  macbenke@aol.com

Ottawa Wind Concerns: ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

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Municipalities demand formal support be mandatory requirement for new wind power bids

17 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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Since this news release was issued, two more municipalities in Ontario have asked the Wynne government to change the wind power bid process, so communities can plan for sustainable development — and not have power plants forced on them

NorthFrontenac

NEWS RELEASE

Plevna, June 15, 2016

Municipalities call on Ontario government to make municipal support mandatory for wind power bids

Seventy-five municipalities have now endorsed resolutions that call on Ontario’s Independent Electrical System Operator (IESO) to make formal Municipal Support a mandatory requirement in Ontario’s next round of procurement for renewable energy projects.

Mayor Ron Higgins of North Frontenac, who put forward a resolution now supported by other municipalities, says making municipal support mandatory is key to fairness in the process. “It will force proponents to seriously address local concerns when developing these proposals, rather than just going through the motions,” he says.

The IESO process allowed municipalities to express their concerns about wind power projects but that had little impact on the outcome, Higgins says. In spite of the fact that then Energy Minister Chiarelli said a contract in an unwilling community was “virtually impossible,” three of five wind power contracts were awarded in municipalities that did not support the projects proposed by developers.

The municipality of Dutton Dunwich, which also created a mandatory support motion, held a referendum on the wind power project bid there — 84 percent of residents said no. The municipality is now fighting a contract award.

Municipalities across Ontario support these resolutions, including former Energy Minister Chiarelli’s home municipality of Ottawa. Municipalities in Northern Ontario also endorse the resolution.

“Communities know what type of development is appropriate and sustainable,” says North Frontenac Mayor Higgins. “Our resolution points out that utility-scale wind power does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions or appreciably benefit the environment. In fact, in our case, it would have harmed it.”

The recent Environmental Review Tribunal decision revoking the approval for the Ostrander Point wind turbine project underscores the importance of community input into the process of awarding contracts and approving power projects. The community in Prince Edward County went through two appeal hearings and two hearings in court before succeeding in its goal of protecting the environment and endangered wildlife from a power project.

Recent feedback published by the IESO shows that the current bid process was resoundingly condemned by municipal officials and community groups for a lack of openness and transparency.

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Contact:

Mayor Ron Higgins, North Frontenac, 613-884-9736

Mandatory Municipal Support Resolution

  1. Adelaide-Metcalfe, Middlesex County
  2. Alfred & Plantagenet, Prescott-Russell County
  3. Amaranth, Dufferin County
  4. Asphodel-Norwood. Peterborough County
  5. Algonquin Highlands, Haliburton County
  6. Arran-Elderslie, Bruce County
  7. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Huron County
  8. Bayham, Elgin County
  9. Bluewater, Huron
  10. Brockton, Bruce
  11. Brooke-Alvinston, Lambton
  12. Bruce Mines, Algoma District
  13. Cavan-Monaghan, Peterborough
  14. Central Elgin, Elgin
  15. Central Huron, Huron
  16. Chamberlain, Timiskaming District
  17. Chatsworth, Grey County
  18. Clarington, Region of Durham
  19. Dutton-Dunwich, Elgin
  20. East Ferris, Nippissing District
  21. Elgin, County of
  22. Essex, Essex County
  23. Enniskillen, Lambton County
  24. Gananoque, Leeds and Grenville County
  25. Georgian Bluffs, Grey
  26. Grey Highlands, Grey
  27. Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, Peterborough
  28. Hornepayne, Algoma
  29. Howick, Huron
  30. Huron, County of
  31. Huron-Kinloss, Bruce
  32. Kawartha Lakes, City of
  33. Killarney, Sudbury District
  34. Kincardine, Bruce
  35. Lakeshore, Essex
  36. Lambton, County of
  37. LaSalle, Essex
  38. Laurentian Hills, Renfrew County
  39. Leeds and the Thousand Island, Leeds and Grenville
  40. Lennox & Addington, County of
  41. Mapleton, Wellington
  42. Magnetawan, Parry Sound District
  43. Marathon, Thunder Bay District
  44. McDougall, Parry Sound
  45. McNabb Braeside, Renfrew County
  46. Meaford
  47. Newbury, Middlesex
  48. Mono, Dufferin County
  49. Morris-Turnberry, Huron
  50. Nairn and Hyman, Sudbury District
  51. North Frontenac, Frontenac County
  52. North Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
  53. North Grenville, Leeds and Grenville
  54. North Perth, Perth
  55. North Stormont, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry
  56. Northern Bruce Peninsula, Bruce
  57. Ottawa, City of
  58. Peterborough, County of
  59. Plympton-Wyoming, Lambton
  60. Prescott-Russell, United Counties of
  61. Prince Edward, County of
  62. Rainy River, Rainy River District
  63. Ramara, Simcoe County
  64. South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce
  65. Southgate, Grey
  66. Tillsonburg, Oxford County
  67. Trent Lakes, Peterborough
  68. Tudor and Cashel, Hastings County
  69. Tweed, Hastings
  70. Val Rita-Harty, Cochrane District
  71. Warwick, Lambton
  72. Wainfleet, Niagara Region
  73. West Grey, Grey
  74. West Lincoln, Niagara
  75. Zorra, Oxford

Wind farms in Nation, North Dundas get contracts

14 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) last week announced contracts for five wind power projects, for a total of 300 megawatts of new wind power generation.

According to Ontario’s Auditor General, the province is already in a situation of a surplus of power, and selling off the extra at a loss, a good portion of which is due to wind power.

Two Ottawa area communities were named in the contract announcement. The Municipality of Nation and Township of Champlain were tipped for a 32-megawatt project by RES Canada, and North Stormont is to get a 100-megawatt project by EDP Renewables. EDP Renewables (head office Spain) operates the South Branch wind power project in Brinston, which it purchased from Germany-based Prowind.

Citizens of Nation/Champlain who want to get involved should contact Save The Nation/Sauvons La Nation here.

In a recent paper prepared by eight Ontario academics (Fast et al, Nature Energy, January 2016), Ontario’s procurement process for large-scale renewable power projects came under fire for ignoring community concerns.

News reports following last week’s contract announcement quote local mayors as saying they feel “betrayed” by the government action–Dutton-Dunwich mayor Cameron McWilliam was quoted as saying “We live in the Province of Toronto, not the Province of Ontario.” His municipality conducted a full, legal referendum which resulted in 84% saying NO to the wind power project–they are getting a 57-megawatt project by U.S.-based Invenergy.

The municipalities do not even know where the turbines for the proposed power projects will go, as that information is not part of the bid process.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, who told municipalities that it would be “impossible” for a power developer to get a contract if a community did not support it, now says, “They should have known” we never gave them a veto. He describes the power projects, bid and constructed by private corporations, as “public infrastructure.”

We live in the province of Toronto, says small-town mayor

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by in Ottawa, Wind power

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Community held a voters’ referendum–is getting a huge wind farm built by a U.S. company anyway

Dutton-Dunwich Mayor Cameron McWilliam says the view from Dutton’s main street, Currie Road, is that despite provincial promises of respect and an overwhelming no vote in a referendum, the Ontario government “totally ignored” local sentiment Thursday by awarding a Chicago-based company a contract to build dozens of industrial wind turbines in the Lake Erie community. (CRAIG GLOVER, The London Free Press)

Dutton-Dunwich Mayor Cameron McWilliam [Photo Craig Glover, London Free Press]

London Free Press, March 10, 2016

Dutton-Dunwich was the one Ontario municipality that held a referendum on wind farms.

Even though 84 per cent of residents opposed wind turbines, the Elgin County municipality that hugs Lake Erie learned Thursday it will end up with them anyway under a process the government promised would give local sentiments a priority.

“We were totally ignored,” Dutton-Dunwich Mayor Cameron McWilliam said. “We live in the province of Toronto, not the province of Ontario.”

A new round of wind farm development announced Thursday awards a contract to Chicago-based Invenergy to build dozens of industrial turbines in Dutton-Dunwich.

The municipality was the first in Ontario to hold a vote for residents on the issue and subsequently passed a resolution declaring itself an unwilling host for wind farm development. Another 89 Ontario municipalities also have passed the “not a willing host” resolution.

McWilliam said he was stunned Thursday when Dutton-Dunwich was on the list of new green energy projects.

The Ontario government had repeatedly assured McWilliam and other rural leaders that the wishes of local residents would be respected in a new era of public consultation.

In testimony before a legislature committee in November 2013, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said municipalities wouldn’t be given a veto over projects but it would be “very rare indeed” for any to be approved without municipal backing.

“It will be almost impossible for somebody to win one of those bidding processes without an engagement with the municipality,” Chiarelli said.

Representatives of Dutton-Dunwich had met with the Ontario government several times to make it clear the industrial wind turbines were unwanted, McWilliam said.

“They talked about local engagement and the need for local support. There wasn’t that support in Dutton-Dunwich. We’re disappointed,” he said.

McWilliam said the decision was particularly odd considering some other municipalities had rolled out the welcome mat for wind farm projects.

Malahide Township, which already has a wind farm, was one of them. Malahide Township Mayor Dave Mennill said he was shocked that a project proposed for Malahide was rejected while one was approved in Dutton-Dunwich.

It is a tough blow for both municipalities, he said.

“If you want to really tick people off, ask them for their input and then ignore it,” Mennill said. “I’m at a loss to explain it. Obviously, pricing trumps (community) support.” …

 

Read the full story here.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Two of the five wind power projects winning contracts are in the Ottawa area: Municipality of Nation, and North Stormont