Tag Archives: Energy Evolution

Rural councillors propose motion to protect health, safety

09 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Ottawa has no new zoning bylaws to protect rural residents from environmental impacts from new power projects

View of a street in Crysler, south of Ottawa, with wind turbine 2 km away. There have been so many noise complaints that the local board of health is conducting a review. [Photo: D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]

Two Ottawa city councillors have put forward a motion regarding new power generation facilities, demanding that municipal support be mandatory, and that any power projects be in the best interests of the people who must live near them.

Because Ottawa will not have new zoning bylaws until 2025, what the two rural ward councillors are saying is, rural area residents need up-to-date protection in terms of setback distances and noise limits from power projects, which are an industrial use of the land.

Ontario’s regulations for wind turbines, for example, were created in 2009 and remain unchanged, despite advances in knowledge about such negative environmental impacts as noise pollution, strobe effect, risk to wildlife, and danger from fire, ice throw or catastrophic equipment failures.

Community interests foremost, councillor says

Councillor David Brown submitted a notice of motion on February 1st, seconded by Ward 5 Councillor Clarke Kelly.

Here is what Councillor Brown wrote in the current edition of the Manotick Messenger about the motion.

“At issue is the Independent Electricity System Operator or IESO and its ongoing efforts to procure energy projects across the province. Though energy projects generally receive support from municipal councils before proceeding, the authority is unclear; IESO could attempt to work with a project proponent without the approval of Council.

This means that an LNG power plant, a wind turbine, a solar farm, or any other project could arise without the support of the community.

Additionally, Ottawa is in the process of updating its by-laws. Once completed, these updated by-laws will hep future development better conform to the objectives of the city’s Official Plan. This includes energy infrastructure in general and wind turbines in particular. It is essential that new by-laws be finalized and approved before wind turbines are brought to Council’s attention for consideration and approval.

These are the issues that my motion seeks to address. The goals of this motion are to ensure that Council is able to act as the final authority on energy generation in our City and that new generating infrastructure respects our City’s soon-to-be-updated by-laws.

As new energy generation capacity is likely to be placed in the rural areas of Ottawa, it is vital that new facilities be well considered and respect residents’ needs and our communities’ interests.

No project should be advanced without being in the clear interest of those who live close to it.

By advancing this motion I am hoping to better protect our communities against potentially harmful overreach.

David Brown

Ward21@ottawa.ca“

As of last December, the IESO process appeared not to allow municipalities final say in power project approvals, and energy minister Todd Smith recently wrote the IESO a letter asking them to be specific. Early in the current RFP process, municipal support could be “evidenced” by a letter from a planner, or by the issuing of building permits. Issuing building permits is an administrative process, and not an indication of Council support.

Ottawa lags in regulations for safety, health

Ottawa Wind Concerns has called for greater transparency on new power projects, and made several presentations in the past to the previous Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee. Last year, the then councillor for Ward 21 said there was no need for Ottawa to act because there was no RFP process for new power projects, and sent emails in September to members of both the agricultural/rural and environmental protection committees. The truth was, at that point, the IESO documents were already in the engagement and revision phase, and well known to other jurisdictions.

The RFP commenced December 7, 2022.

Ottawa Wind Concerns has recommended a setback of 2 km from wind turbines to residential areas, based on the recommendation from Wind Concerns Ontario.

The City of Ottawa has expressed interest in promoting wind turbines. Ottawa’s $57B Energy Evolution plan calls for 3,200 megawatts of wind power, or more than 700 industrial scale wind turbines in the rural areas of the city.

During the 2022 municipal election campaign, all candidates in Ward 21 pledged to work for a review of that plan.

New motion to be presented soon

The motion set for February 8th has been deferred to next Council meeting because of technicalities with the local power utility, but will be presented again February 22nd.


ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

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Ward 21 council candidates pledge review of Ottawa Energy Evolution plan

21 Wednesday Sep 2022

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Roads, wind turbines, and City Hall arrogance: themes at North Gower all-candidates’ meeting

September 21, 2022

Planning staff and others at the City of Ottawa may have sensed their ears burning Monday evening.

That’s because participants at an all-candidates meeting in North Gower held September 19 complained bitterly about the lack of real “engagement” or “consultation” from staff regarding major initiatives, whether it the new Official Plan, individual zoning amendment cases, or huge expensive initiatives like the $57B Energy Evolution plan.

The meeting, sponsored by the North Gower Community Association, was attended by candidates David Brown, Leigh-Andrea Brunet and Kevin Setia. Candidate Patty Searl was ill and unable to attend, and Michael Nowack was working, he told the organizers.

Comments were made about how hard it was to get information about city projects and plans, and to feel like comments were being taken seriously, residents said.

Staff put out their reports with their decisions on what actions will be taken, said one North Gower resident. By the time the process gets to “engagement,” it feels like the decisions have already been made, she said.

Mentioned was the city’s “engagement” on garbage collection, the Official Plan, and other policies in development.

City doesn’t “get” rural issues

Citizens spoke about some of the issues being reported in media about what’s important in the 2022 municipal election campaign, and said that the urban-rural divide was clear. The city quite simply doesn’t “get” rural issues.

Transit is a key topic now, as the city is pushing for better use of the multi-billion-dollar transit system and LRT. But Ottawa’s transit system is out of reach for rural residents, some said.

“I’d love to take transit,” said one resident. “But where do I get it? Where do I drive to from North Gower to get a bus or the LRT or whatever? And, I live on a farm and drive a truck—will there be a parking space I can fit into when I get there?”

Leigh-Andrea Brunet said that the mega-warehouse site, which was the subject of a citizen appeal, would have been a good place for a park and ride, where buses could pick up residents needing to go into the city. David Brown commented that work would have to be done on assessing the cost of rural bus routes but that the City-owned client services centre would be a good location for passenger pickup in North Gower.

Comments were made about one mayoral candidate’s proposal to spend $250 million on bike lanes while in rural areas, roads are literally falling apart.

Concern was expressed by several residents over the tone of the current Council, and how there seemed to be “gangs” of councillors as one person put it.

Kevin Setia said his goal would be to work collaboratively with all other councillors.

NO to expensive, unreliable wind turbines

As the questions asked covered various City initiatives and programs promoted by the current Council, the Energy Evolution plan came up repeatedly, particularly the part that calls for powering the city with wind and solar and would require more than 700 industrial-scale wind turbines, to be installed in Ottawa’s rural areas.

Residents recalled the Green Energy Act era in Ontario, which resulted in a loss of more than $30 billion to ratepayers and taxpayers because of expensive, above-market contracts, and asked why Ottawa hasn’t learned from that.

Every candidate agreed that wind power was expensive and unreliable and not appropriate for Ottawa.

In conclusion, all three said they pledged to demand a review of the Energy Evolution plan if elected.

Election day is October 24, 2022 with advance polls in Ottawa available after September 24.

Further all-candidates meetings include Richmond, October 5; Manotick Village Community Association September 28th 7 PM at the Community Centre/arena; West Carleton-March the OFA  will host a meeting Oct. 5 at the Kinburn Community Centre 7 PM; and the Huntley Community Association (HCA) will host an all-candidates debate for Ward 5 council candidates on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 7 PM at the Carp Agricultural Hall.

To contact us, or to be added to our email list, email ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

 

We want transparency on new power projects: Ottawa Wind Concerns to City of Ottawa

01 Monday Aug 2022

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A previous wind power project was presented as a ‘done deal.’ That’s not happening again, says Ottawa community group.

City documents show that wind and solar power projects and battery storage are due for completion by 2025. Where are they? Rural residents want to know.

August 1, 2022

Community group Ottawa Wind Concerns has asked its followers to contact the City of Ottawa to request transparency on several renewable energy projects.

In an email today, the group asked citizens to demand transparency from the city, with the following request:

“On page 45 of the Energy Evolution action plan is the statement that a project is to be undertaken in the electricity sector between 2020 and 2025, which requires specifically the installation of:

150 megawatts of solar power generation

20 megawatts of wind

20 megawatts of hydro and

20 megawatts of electricity storage.

Given that these are substantial projects for the City and will require procurement of land as well as environmental studies in order to obtain approvals, we are asking the City of Ottawa to release information NOW on where these projects will be located, who will be the operators of the facilities, what contract terms are for setbacks from homes, noise limits, decommissioning, and fire and aviation safety requirements as well as what cost-benefit analysis is being done to confirm the climate change benefits of these projects.

In short, we are asking for opportunities for full public engagement with regard to these power generation projects.

As the deliverable date for these projects is less than three years away, we ask that public disclosure and engagement begin as soon as possible.”

The power projects are significant, says Ottawa Wind Concerns Chair Jane Wilson: “For wind power, the 20 megawatt requirement could mean seven or more industrial-scale wind turbines,” she says. “That will be a significant impact on a community and on the people who will be forced to live nearby. The power generators do create noise pollution and have other potential impacts on the environment such as the risk to wildlife, and the loss of important woodlands and other features.”

Wilson says there is no news on the 2025 power projects, but residents want to know they will be notified and included.

“The last time this happened,” says Wilson, “the project was presented as a ‘done deal’. That cannot happen again.”

A 20-megawatt wind power project was proposed for North Gower in 2008 but ended when the proponent, a small firm out of Germany, failed to meet requirements of Ontario’s Large Renewable Power procurement effort in 2014. The turbines were to be 600 feet tall and would have been near hundreds of homes and the village school. Almost every citizen in the area signed and petition which was presented at City Hall.

The local chapter of Ontario Landowners has also asked members to contact the City of Ottawa to demand transparency.

ottawawindconcerns@ottawawindconcerns

Ottawa Wind Concerns is an incorporated, not-for-profit group, with a membership list of several hundred residents of rural Ottawa communities and other stakeholders. We are a community group member of the Wind Concerns Ontario coalition.Our goal: a safe environment…for everyone

Wind power and energy security today

01 Monday Aug 2022

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Another reason why Ottawa’s Energy Evolution and the plan for 3,200 megawatts of wind to power Ottawa (intermittently) isn’t a good idea. Opinion by Ottawa energy economist Robert Lyman

whitefarmhouse2turbines

Putting 700 wind turbines throughout Ottawa’s rural communities will foster energy security, according to Ottawa’s climate change action plan. How is that possible when all the raw materials come from somewhere else? [Photo: D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]

ENERGY SECURITY – THE UNIQUE PROBLEMS OF WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY

August 1, 2022

The crisis in global energy markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seized public attention in western countries largely because of its indirect effect on the prices of oil and natural gas, two energy sources of central importance to the world’s economy. In a somewhat perverse way, the crisis may also serve as a valuable reminder of the importance of energy security, a consideration that many governments, in their pursuit of “climate” objectives, have demoted to the second or third rank.

There is another dimension of energy security that does not relate to the threat of oil and gas shortages and price increases but instead to the insecure sources of the materials needed to produce wind, solar and battery equipment. All of these require large imports of critical components or inputs from China.

How big is this problem?

In 2019, China accounted for 68% of global polysilicon production, 96% of global photovoltaic (PV) wafers production, 76% of PV cell production and 71% of PV module production.

The Global Wind Blade Supply Chain Update for 2020 ranks China as the largest producing country for wind turbines. Chinese firms are responsible for more than 50% of global wind blade production capacity. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, China is now the leading exporter of wind-powered generating nets, accounting for about 10% of the market outside of China.

China is also among the leading suppliers of many minerals critical to the manufacture of wind turbines and solar PV. Table 1 indicates China’s share of global supply of critical mineral inputs.

Table 1

MineralChina Share of Global Supply

Aluminum 56%

Cadmium 33%

Copper8%

Gallium 97%

Indium 39%

Molybdenum 45%

Rare Earths 63%

Selenium 33%

Silicon 64%

Tellurium 62%

Tin 27%

Titanium 28%

Tungsten 82%

Vanadium 55%

Zinc 33%

Source: World Bank

Dependence on China for the materials needed for wind, solar and batteries is not the only energy security consideration that should be raised with respect to renewable energy. A far more significant risk concerns the inability of intermittent electricity supply sources to meet electricity demand at all times and in all seasons, especially if left dependent on costly and unproven bulk electricity storage systems.

There is an important geopolitical dimension. China and the West are now locked into an important competition to determine which countries, and which economic systems, will lead the world over the next century. China has shown itself willing to use every policy tool, including widespread industrial espionage and funding of groups that create disharmony and division in western societies, to advance its agenda.

In these circumstances, relying on energy sources dependent on Chinese supplies seems like a very high-risk approach.

Robert Lyman,

Ottawa

………………….

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Community group concerned about $57-billion Energy Evolution plan: Manotick Messenger

29 Friday Jul 2022

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Ottawa’s climate action plan calls for more than 700 wind turbines, even though wind power is intermittent and out of phase with demand. Do people know about the $57B plan? [Photo D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]

July 29, 2022

Ottawa Wind Concerns is quoted in a news story in the Manotick Messenger, published today.

Ottawa City Council approved the Energy Evolution climate change action plan in the early weeks of the pandemic in 2020 says Ottawa Wind Concerns Chair Jane Wilson, with an estimated cost to taxpayers of $57 billion.

But most people don’t know anything about it.

The plan stipulates that electricity will become the “primary fuel for all building types” in Ottawa, and that the plan calls for more than half a million heat pumps to be installed.

In order to achieve electrification of everything from home heating, to building HVAC systems to transportation, Energy Evolution says that the city of 1.1 million will rely on wind and solar power. The plan calls for 3,200 megawatts of new wind power in Ottawa, which translates to 710 industrial-scale wind turbines, of 4.5 megawatt capacity.

There are no cost-benefit studies to show this will work, Wilson says, and neither is there any evidence that the city’s dramatic measures will really have any impact on climate change.

“What’s needed as we move into October’s municipal election campaign are questions to all candidates about the city’s action plan and whether candidates are aware of and support the proposals,” Wilson said.

Read the news story here, on page 17.

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Wind power: a no-show in summer (winter too)

15 Friday Jul 2022

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How does Ottawa’s Climate team expect to run Ontario’s second largest city on power that’s just not there?

Industrialization of Ottawa rural areas planned: for what? [Photo: D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]

July 15, 2022

At 5 p.m. today, the province-wide demand for power was just over 19,000 megawatts on a warm summer afternoon.

The closest wind power plant to Ottawa is at Crysler (Finch, Berwick). At that hour, the 100-megawatt facility was generating just 7 megawatts of power. Next closest is Amherst Island’s Windlectric project, also producing just 7 megawatts of power.

Wind in total that hour was producing 395 megawatts of power.

Ottawa city staff on the climate team have made it clear they think Ontario’s second largest city can run on “predominately wind and solar.” On May 17th, section manager Andrea Flowers told the environmental protection committee that “we have explicitly said that [the energy resource for the city] would include renewable energy generation both wind and solar”.

Commentator and former international banker Parker Gallant has made much of Ontario’s unavailable wind power supply in recent days. He says, if you completely shut down Ontario’s wind power fleet, you wouldn’t notice a thing. Why?

It’s not there.

Here’s what he had to say about one day’s performance earlier this week:

“Yesterday, July 13, 2022, was one of those; not so hot summer days in most of Ontario so according to IESO (Independent Electricity System of Ontario) peak demand at hour 16 only reached 18,135 MW during a five (5) minute interval.  At that hour those IWT (industrial wind turbines) with a capacity of 4,900 MW were contributing 108 MW or 2.2% of their capacity and 0.6% of demand. Had they been absent they wouldn’t have been missed!”

Gallant also wrote an article for The Financial Post this week in which he described wind as a “fickle energy friend.” In a day not unlike today, July 13th saw wind producing a few hundred megawatts of power while demand was more than 19,000 megawatts.

Who did show up for work that afternoon? Gallant answers the question:

“What sources did the work at this peak-demand hour? Here’s the breakdown:

  • Nuclear                9,529 MW
  • Hydro                   5,222 MW
  • Natural Gas         4,336 MW
  • IWT                          332 MW
  • Solar                        207 MW
  • Biofuel                     115 MW”

Ottawa’s Energy Evolution document, the “action plan” for the Climate Change Master Plan and the first step in implementation, actually calls for Ottawa to get its own 3,200 megawatts of wind power, which they translate into 710 wind wind turbines ( Energy Evolution, page 45).

The model states that those are the MINIMUM required for the city to get to “Net Zero” and electrify everything — a worthy goal, but not going to happen with wind power. No cost-benefit analysis was included.

Ottawa voters need to ask election candidates a few pointed questions leading up to the October municipal election.

Are you aware of the Energy Evolution plan?

Have you read it?

Do you support more than 700 wind turbines in Ottawa’s rural communities, effectively turning them into industrial power plants?

Oh, did we mention the Energy Evolution is priced out at $57 billion?????

Time to ask questions.

Ottawa Wind Concerns is an incorporated, not-for-profit group, with a membership list of several hundred residents of rural Ottawa communities and other stakeholders. We are a community group member of the Wind Concerns Ontario coalition.Our goal: a safe environment…for everyone

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Response to questions on wind turbines: slander

07 Monday Mar 2022

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A roadside sign in rural Ottawa: wanting the best for the environment, not harm to people and wildlife

March 7, 2022

We listened in on a “virtual” Technical Conference at the Ontario Energy Board this morning, and we are glad we did.

The consultant acting for Energy Probe appeared to ask questions about application 2022-0293, in which the City of Ottawa objects to a natural gas pipeline replacement on St Laurent because, according to the Energy Evolution document which they offer as evidence, Ottawa will be using 90-percent less natural gas.

Instead, the plan proposes, the City will be using electricity from various sources including, a model for 710 wind turbines.

We have been clear: we think Energy Evolution is a deeply flawed document that does NOT do what people want it to—fight climate change.

The proposal of hundreds of wind turbines is choosing an intermittent, unreliable energy source that will cause electricity bills to rise, will harm the environment and people, and will NOT help the environment.

That’s clear.

So the Energy Probe consultant chose to use a posting on our website that makes reference to a document by the ICSC, critical of the Energy Evolution plan.

Instead of answering questions about our concerns about wind turbines and the Energy Evolution plan, counsel for one witness, the School Energy Coalition , responded with the claim that Ottawa Wind Concerns is a “climate change denier organization.”

That is demonstrably untrue.

It’s also slander.

We have filed a letter of complaint with the Ontario Energy Board demanding that the comments be struck from the record.

Our position is that we want the best for the environment.

We want energy sources that work, not harm.

This is an egregious tactic employed to silence communities and citizens. It may be worth noting that the lawyer in question, Mr Jay Shepherd, is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com