• About
  • BRINSTON/SOUTH BRANCH/NORTH DUNDAS/NORTH STORMONT
  • Donate!
  • Ottawa’s “Energy Evolution”: wind turbines coming to rural communities
  • Wind Concerns Ontario

Ottawa Wind Concerns

~ A safe environment for everyone

Ottawa Wind Concerns

Tag Archives: Evonne Delegarde

Turbines a concern in South Dundas; oil pipeline? Not so much.

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Brinston, community opposition wind farms, EDP Renewables, Energy East, Evonne Delegarde, Not a Willing host, South Branch wind farm, South Dundas, wind power Ontario

TransCanada Corp.’s 4,600-kilometre crude oil pipeline proposal aims to connect Hardisty, Alta. to a brand new export terminal in Saint John, N.B., connecting the oilsands to eastern refineries, and crossing hundreds of rural areas such as South Dundas along the route.

The Financial Post, December 14, 2015

BRINSTON, ONT. • Jason Cardinal fiddles with his baseball cap, leans back on the wall and mockingly counts his gripes with the latest energy project imposed on his eastern Ontario township.

“It’s an eyesore, it disturbs their cows, kills their birds and makes whistling sounds, blah, blah, blah,” he deadpans.

Cardinal lives near Brinston, a tiny agricultural community in the municipality of South Dundas roughly 70 kilometres south of Ottawa, where TransCanada Corp. last week hosted an open house for its proposed Energy East crude oil pipeline.

Cardinal and his friends Lloya Sprague and Mike Vanallen are more vocal about the wind turbines installed in the South Dundas municipality than the Energy East proposal. The 30-megawatt South Branch Wind Farm installed by Madrid-based EDP Renewables Canada Ltd., connected to utility distributor Hydro One, is part of Ontario government’s Green Energy Act plan to raise the contribution of renewable sources in the province’s energy mix.

The three firefighters serving the community were at the open house not representing the South Dundas fire department, but “were interested as a person” in the Energy East project, says Sprague.

But it’s not the $12 billion proposal to reverse the existing natural gas pipeline and convert it to take bitumen from Western Canada to East Coast that has Cardinal uneasy.

TransCanada Corp.’s 4,600-kilometre crude oil pipeline proposal aims to connect Hardisty, Alta. to a brand new export terminal in Saint John, N.B., connecting the oilsands to eastern refineries, and crossing hundreds of rural areas such as South Dundas along the route.

FP1212_Brinston_C_JR

The 1.1 million barrels per day project was submitted to the National Energy Board last year, but the Calgary-based company will file an amendment to the application before the end of the year after scrapping plans for a marine terminal in Quebec.

The plan involves repurposing an existing 3,000-kilometre natural gas pipeline that runs from Alberta to Ontario with the Iroquois pump station 12.4 kilometres from Brinston marking the end of that line. As such, most landowners along the line are already familiar with the concept of a fossil fuel conduit running through their backyards.

TransCanada has been holding these open houses across Canada since 2013, as part of it community engagement agenda, but not each event has gone as quietly as Brinston. TransCanada spokesman Tim Duboyce says there have been protests at some of the 116 open houses the company has hosted, while general protests have not been uncommon. In May, hundreds of people marched through Red Head, N.B. to protest the project that ends near that community. Montreal, Kenora and Thunder Bay have also seen protests against the pipeline over the past year.

Related

  • TransCanada is ‘confident’ Energy East will meet potential new requirements, but says costs will go up
  • America has built the equivalent of 10 Keystone pipelines since 2010 — and nobody said anything
  • TransCanada Corp suffers another setback as it scraps Quebec port for Energy East

But it’s hard to find any opposition on this night in Brinston.

Famous for Caldwell towels and Mcintosh apples in nearby Dundela, South Dundas is primarily a town focused on growing soyabean, corn and dairy farming, where residents are more likely to be rattled by solar farms and wind turbines.

South Dundas mayor Evonne Delegrade says she has heard “nothing” on Energy East from her 33 communities that make up the township of roughly 11,000 people. Indeed, the 24 or people who showed up last Monday evening, many with children in tow, were there mostly out of curiosity about, not in opposition to, the pipeline project.

In contrast, Delegrade got an earful from the community last year when 10 wind turbines were installed after approval from the provincial government.

“For the wind turbines, we are not a supporting municipality in that the majority of council did not agree with the Green Energy Act,” Delegrade said, noting that an expansion of the project was voted down by her council.

Once it’s done [with construction], you will never hear about it again

While the Ontario Ministry of Energy is supportive of wind projects, “that’s not happening, to my knowledge, with this (Energy East) project,” Mayor Delegarde says.

Ontarians are paying a price for the Ministry of Energy’s push for wind turbines and solar farm projects, she says. “And this (Energy East) isn’t going to nickel and dime or add any taxes to our residents.”

Indeed, the province has come under sharp criticism for its zeal in pursuing expensive renewable energy projects. In a report this month, the provincial auditor general estimated that the Liberal Government’s decision to ignore its own planning process would cost electricity customers as much as $9.2 billion more for new wind and solar projects.

The wind turbines looming large over the community is part of its problem, says Sprague, noting that in contrast Energy East would be “out of sight, out of mind.”

“Once it’s done [with construction], you will never hear about it again,” says Vanallen.

Dave Chan for National Post

[Dave Chan for National Post] A model of a pipeline construction on display in Brinston, Ont., one of the communities across Canada where TransCanada held information sessions on the Energy East pipeline for local residents.

The latest round of “safety and emergency response days” has taken TransCanada to Prairie cities and towns in Ontario and Quebec. More are planned in Quebec before the end of the year where TransCanada may find a more frosty reception. Unlike much of Ontario, Quebec towns will see new pipes being laid and farmers largely unaccustomed to dealing with pipeline companies. In November, Premier Philippe Couillard sounded an early alarm by noting that the scrapping off the Quebec marine terminal would “complicate” the project’s approval by the province.

To be sure, the criticism is not as vitriolic as it often was during TransCanada’s own Keystone XL pipeline and Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline campaigns.

Indeed, last year, the Northwestern Ontario Municipalities Association (NOMA), comprising districts of Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay that make up two-third of the province’s land mass, voted in support of the conversion of natural gas pipelines for the Energy East project.

Dave Chan for National Post

[Dave Chan for National Post]South Dundas mayor Evonne Delegarde.

“The majority of the community is fine with the conversion as long as the safeguards are put in place,” says David Canfield, mayor of Kenora and president of NOMA.

“But if they were trying to pull a wool over our eyes, as the saying goes, with Energy East, I will be the first one to come down on them,” Canfield adds. “So far they have been very open to our concerns.”

Fearing a repeat of a crude-laden train exploding as happened at Lac Megantic, Que., the municipality association’s largely symbolic vote was driven by a desire to rid the communities of 32,000 petroleum laden rail cars that regularly roll through the towns each year.

“Those tracks don’t bypass the communities — in most cases they go straight through,” said Iain Angus, a member of the Thunder Bay Council and member of NOMA council.

NOMA is also seeking assurances from TransCanada that the communities’ drinking water and hunting and recreational facilities will be protected.

“If things happen that we didn’t like, we would modify our position,” Angus said in a phone interview.

While the umbrella association is in agreement, the city of Thunder Bay, the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario, is divided on the project, with mayor Keith Hobbs “totally opposed” to the pipeline. Another council member was not convinced that the pipeline would reduce crude-by-rail traffic.

“At this juncture, [I’m] totally opposed to this pipeline,” Hobbs said in September, according to a CBC report. “Lake Superior, to me, is more important than any jobs. I want jobs in this city, but water comes first. Water is life.”

Dave Chan for National Post

[Dave Chan for National Post] Local residents of South Dundas look at a map of the region with TransCanada staff at an information session on the Energy East pipeline.

In September, the city council agreed to delay a vote on the pipeline after Angus — who supports Energy East — put forward a motion to defer it.

“The pipeline is 70 kilometres north of the city,” Angus says dryly. “It’s well outside of our municipal boundaries.”

Separately, a volunteer organization headed by Angus has launched an Energy East task force, seeking National Energy Board funding to do its own consultation with First Nations and the general public.

Awareness of the pipeline will likely rise among communities once the the review process gathers momentum, but for now visitors to Matilda Hall in Brinston are merely intrigued passers-by.

One man from Morrisburg, with a worn-out cap taming his long, graying hair, brought his three young daughters to the event. After spending about 20 minutes in the hall, he stepped out of the centre and lit a cigarette that he had rifled from a small ziploc bag.

A TransCanada employee started explaining the company’s spill response, and the man punctuated his response with a slightly bored “Is that right?” line. Did he get all his concerns addressed, he is asked. He sucks on his cigarette: “Yeah, I wasn’t concerned, just curious.”

yhussain@nationalpost.com
YAD_FPEnergy

Advertisement

South Dundas says NO to expansion of Brinston wind farm

13 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Brinston, community opposition wind farms, EDP Renewables, electricity bills Ontario, Evonne Delegarde, IESO, Large Renewable Procurement Ontario, Not a Willing host, South Dundas, wind farm, wind farms Eastern Ontario, wind power, wind turbines

Note the comments from the Mayor, regarding the effect of the existing wind power project on the community of Brinston. And for WHAT? More intermittent power Ontario doesn’t need?

Bravo, South Dundas. (Although they not declare themselves Not A Willing Host)

Cornwall NewsWatch, August 12, 2015

No support resolution for South Dundas wind farm

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Editor in News, South Dundas // 2 Comments

In this Aug. 5, 2015 file photo, an EDP Renewables wind turbine slowly turns in the breeze in a field northeast of Dixons Corners. (Newswatch Group/File)

MORRISBURG – A green energy company will likely still go ahead with a proposed wind farm but it won’t be getting South Dundas council support.

Company reps from Spain-based EDP Renewables lobbied one last time Tuesday night for the council support resolution for the South Branch Wind Farm II project.

After distributing 1,100 letters to area property owners, spokesman Ken Little said they had four written comments following their Aug. 5 open house, one of which was critical of the project.

“This is one of the most positive meetings…when you talk about 1,100 mailers distilled down to one negative comment that really speaks a lot,” EDP spokesman Thomas LoTurco added.

There was also a cautionary note from Little about the financial benefits for the township. “A municipal council support resolution…is a chance for South Dundas to lock in the benefits of this project at an early stage. Without the municipal support resolution…we cannot make the same financial commitments to the township that we offered here,” he said.

Little also urged councillors to put aside the provincial politics surrounding green energy and think of EDP Renewables as a business that wants to grow locally. “We’ve worked very hard to build a reputation here.”

But, in a 3-1 vote, councillors decided Tuesday night against sending a so-called council support resolution to the Independent Electricity System Operator on behalf of EDP Renewables.

The lone supporter was Deputy Mayor Jim Locke, who read a prepared statement.

“It’s particularly hard for me as I presented the motion (in 2013) that South Dundas not support any future green energy projects until there was a demonstrated need. By the way, that motion did not say we were ‘unwilling host.’ That handle was added by others,” Locke stated.

“A lot has changed since that time. Green energy is not a fad and is here to stay and will be growing,” the deputy mayor added, in pointing to IESO data showing a gap in electricity needs when nuclear plants are taken offline in 2018-2019 for refurbishment.

“In my opinion, a wind contract at eight or nine cents per kilowatt hour will not cause an increase in hydro rates,” Locke said, in referring to the open house where he said the main concern he heard was skyrocketing hydro bills.

Locke said voters will ask in three years what council did for economic development and the deputy mayor suggested it was a chance to cash in on over $10 million over 25 years in benefits “not to mention the benefits to local business and individuals who live and spend in South Dundas.”

“If we do not support this project and it wants to go ahead anyway we lose $6.5 million dollars right off the bat and I’m not willing to take that gamble,” Locke said.

Coun. Archie Mellan declared a conflict of interest and was not part of the debate nor the vote.

Coun. Bill Ewing suggested the municipal benefit fund proposal of $6.5 million over 25 years not being on the table without a support resolution was akin to ransom or blackmail.

Coun. Marc St. Pierre couldn’t get past the uncertainly of the future, outlining concerns about what would happen with the windmills if the province abandons its green energy plan.

“I’m not disputing any of the results from the public meeting…I think some people were reluctant to voice their opinion at that meeting and I’ve had several calls since as well as several emails,” Mayor Evonne Delegarde.

“I think the existing project…did divide the community and it put strain on a lot of relationships with friends and families and neighbours and I think a further two to three dozen (wind turbines) to the east or to the west…this will put a further strain on those relationships,” the mayor said.

“We’ve taken a lot of pride in the agricultural sector and I think that’s changed the agricultural landscape and it’s going to be a lot more than what we see now,” Delegarde said in closing.

The resolution would have helped EDP get preferential scoring in its bid to build a 75 megawatt wind farm east of the existing South Branch Wind Farm near Brinston.

The project would be roughly 20-30 turbines spread over 10,000 acres – roughly three times the size in area of the South Branch Wind Farm.

Representatives from EDP Renewables, Ken Little and Thomas LoTurco, appeared dumbstruck at what had happened and declined comment saying they needed time to “collect their thoughts.”

 

South Dundas wind power plant target

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Brinston, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Evonne Delegarde, Invenergy, North Dundas wind farm, North Stormont wind farm, Not a Willing host, South Dundas, South Dundas wind farm, Standard-Freeholder, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, wind farm Eastern Ontario, wind power, wind turbines

Not the photo the Standard-Freeholder used, of a turbine alone in a field. THIS is reality: a house and turbine near KIncardine, Ont.

Not the photo the Standard-Freeholder used, of a turbine alone in a field. THIS is reality: a house and turbine near KIncardine, Ont.

U.S.-based Invenergy is trying to persuade South Dundas to reverse its unwilling host resolution and put its stamp of approval on a proposal for more wind turbines for the area.

Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, May 25

South Dundas remains a magnet for wind power developers, despite an earlier proclamation the municipality is “not a willing host” for the controversial turbines.

Just on the heels of a presentation made by the township’s only resident turbine developer, EDP Renewables, a second firm wants in on the action. South Dundas council heard last Tuesday from James Murphy and Ryan Ralph, who were representing Invenergy, reputed to be the continent’s sixth-largest green energy entity.

Invenergy is proposing its Nine Mile Project, which would be considerably more ambitious the current South Branch project that is now operating in the Brinston area. It would also spill into North Dundas.

If developed, Nine Mile would produce between 50-90 megawatts/hr. South Branch delivers 30 megawatts, but EDP is hoping to expand its operations in the township.

Invenergy needs council’s blessing in order to arm itself with a best-case argument to get provincial approval as it competes with some 40 other companies. One of the requirements that South Dundas wants projects to satisfy is to show there is a demand for more electricity.

Invenergy has indicated by 2019, more energy will need to be produced in Ontario, reversing a current trend of selling power at loss to other jurisdictions.

Mayor Evonne Delegarde said the new council welcomes new presentations in order to analyze their individual worth.

One of the social spinoffs for hosting a turbine project is the community donations the township receives annually – $1,000 for every megawatt produced, so Nine Mile would provide $50,000 to $90,000 per year for 20 years.

As for her opinion, the mayor said the community investment would not be a factor in view of whether to accept the proposal. Several property owners have already signed up to receive $500,000 in lease payments if the project goes ahead.

twitter.com/GregPeerenboom

NOTE: Ottawa Wind Concerns has learned that a community group opposed to the wind power project may be forming in North Stormont–we will keep you informed.

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Recent Posts

  • Prince Edward County rejects battery storage proposal
  • Ontario to launch request for new power projects next week
  • Pleas for protective bylaws for noisy wind turbines get nowhere with Ottawa councillor
  • Is the $57B Energy Evolution plan dead?
  • Ward 21 council candidates pledge review of Ottawa Energy Evolution plan

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Tags

Bob Chiarelli electricity bills Ontario Green Energy Act IESO Ontario Ottawa wind concerns wind farm wind farms wind power wind turbines

Contact us

PO Box 3 North Gower ON K0A 2T0

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Ottawa Wind Concerns
    • Join 369 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Ottawa Wind Concerns
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...