Tag Archives: FIT contracts

Wind farm bid announcement postponed to March 2016

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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Re-posted from Wind Concerns Ontario

As if the process for wind power siting and approval wasn’t slanted enough in the favour of the corporate wind power developers, now the Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) has announced that because so many bids were received for contracts, it needs more time to determine the successful bidders.

That means, Ontario communities will not know until March 2016, whether they have been selected to be transformed into an industrial power location.

See the IESO announcement here.

IESO may be contacted at LRP@ieso.ca

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Horwath in Sarnia: still believes in wind farms

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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The NDP has not released its official platform yet for the election, and has been sparing with details, especially on the energy sector. Some clues may be had, however, in this report from Sarnia where the NDP leader appeared yesterday. She was greeted by sign-bearing members of WAIT-PW/We’re Against Wind Turbines-Plympton Wyoming, a community that is facing multiple turbines.

Here is the report from the Sarnia Observer:

Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer, May 16, 2014

Horwath talked about electricity when her campaign bus stopped next to the St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge Friday morning after a meet-and-greet the night before at the Ups ‘N’ Downs pub downtown where she was greeted by anti-wind turbine protestors.

A 92-turbine wind project is current under construction in Lambton County, and another 46-turbine project is awaiting provincial environmental approval.

Both have led to protests by opponents of wind energy and the province’s Green Energy Act.

“We believe that the Liberals have made a mess of the green energy sector, as well,” Horwath said.

“It’s a sad day in Ontario when we have families pitted against each other, when we have neighbours pitted against each other, when we have communities pitted against each other.”

Renewable energy is something most people believe is a good thing but the Liberals decided to shut down community participation, “ignore the voices of local residents and rammed through projects,” Horwath said.

“That’s a wrong-headed way of doing things.”

She said the NDP believes there’s no need to call in international companies to get green energy up and running in Ontario. Instead, Horwath said she would encourage municipalities, farm co-ops and First Nations to develop projects that are scaled to their communities and benefit local residents.

“Instead we have this situation that has pitted people against each other,” she said.

“Its very divisive and, frankly, is a failure of the Liberals.”

Read the full story here.

Energy Minister Chiarelli fails to answer FIT contract question

20 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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MPP Laurie Scott asked Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli today whether there was still a FIT contract in place for the now withdrawn Sumac Ridge wind power project in Kawartha Lakes. After making a lame joke about shoe stores, Minister Chiarelli said his government will not cancel contracts and to do so would result in $20 billion worth of litigation for Ontario. (That is the amount of contracts for the 55 wind power projects still in the approval process.)

This is false. The FIT contract is the first step in a long process leading to Renewable Energy Approval; the government has the ability to choose not to fulfill the contracts, and not to grant a renewable energy approval at any stage, or to rescind such approval once granted.

In a rare appearance on this issue, Environment Minister Jim Bradley also stands to not answer the question, replying with platitudes about how rigorous the approval process is, and how the public can appeal any project. Right.

Here is the clip from Queen’s Park today. Note the mention of Wind Concerns Ontario’s letter to Minister Chiarelli.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rDjrTGRVoQ&feature=youtu.be

The Chiarelli-Wynne non-announcement for Ontario municipalities: nothing has changed

03 Monday Jun 2013

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

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Last week, Energy Minister and former Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli announced that Ontario would in future increase “local control” in renewable energy development. This was in reaction to the fact that in recent weeks, almost 40 municipalities took the step of formally passing a resolution to say they are NOT a “willing host” to wind power projects, picking up on remarks made months earlier by Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Mr Chiarelli announced that a new process will “replace the existing large project stream of Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program and better meet the needs of communities.”

A new “competitive procurement process for projects over 500 kW” will be announced in the fall.

What does it all mean?

Absolutely nothing.

In fact, things may even be worse for communities who don’t wish to expose their residents to the health impacts, property value loss, and social divisions that come along with large-scale wind power generation projects.

Note the wording: “meet the needs of communities.” What the province is saying it will now do is develop Regional Energy Plans and the new process will “require energy planners and developers to work directly with municipalities to identify appropriate locations and site requirements.”

We’re not sure who the “energy planners” are but take this scenario: a regional energy plan for Ottawa and area is developed and the province says there must be a mix of power sources. Therefore, a wind power project, and guess what? There’s already one in process in North Gower-Richmond*, or countless other communities across Ontario near large urban centres, so, carry on! And we know that siting wind power projects has NOTHING to do with health or the environment and everything to do with a few willing landowners.

And the Liberal government’s continuing policy of forcing wind power projects on rural and small urban communities.

Premier Wynne confirmed this in an interview last Friday when she said Ontario is continuing its goal of securing the province’s clean energy future, and that siting decisions will be made for the “greater good.”

That means, too bad for you North Gower and Richmond. Hundreds of families, young children, people with existing health problems, young families with everything invested in their homes suddenly forced to live with a power project? Too bad for you: it’s for the “greater good.”

This announcement was the Ontario government at its most cynical.

Scott Stinson wrote in The National Post, referring to the government’s earlier decision to pay power developers even if we don’t need the power: “So now Ontario will pay wind generators for energy that it isn’t even using, produced by turbines in communities that didn’t want them, and were installed under a set of rules that it has since admitted was a mistake.” http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/06/02/scott-stinson-rural-communities-not-blow-away-by-changes-to-ontarios-green-energy-act/

Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs today wrote a letter to Premier Wynne on behalf of the 20 some municipalities that met earlier this year and formed a working group. While Mr Chiarelli claims that the province is unable to cancel, or not proceed on, projects with FIT contracts, Mayor Jeffs reminds him that this is not true: “the recent court decision in the lawsuit brought by Trillium Power indicated that this concern does not apply to projects that have not received REA approvals. FIT contract holders have only been granted permission to enter a ‘complex regulatory process’ that might lead to approval to build a wind project. A FIT contract is not a guarantee of a REA approval.”

In other words, with all due respect, Minister, you are lying.

For more on this we invite you to read Parker Gallant’s excellent column at Wind Concerns Ontario, The truth, whole truth, so help me Ontario. http://freewco.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-truth-whole-truth-so-help-me-ontario.html

Contact us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com 

Middlesex-Lambton, Listowel, Prince Edward County, Haldimand, West Lincoln, Bluewater, Kincardine, Collingwood… for a list of wind power projects pending go to ontario-wind-turbines.org