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Ottawa Wind Concerns

Tag Archives: Lisa MacLeod MPP

MPP Lisa MacLeod says Ontario farmers in dire straits over hydro bills

27 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

electricity bills, energy poverty, Lisa MacLeod MPP, North Gower, Ontario farmers, Ontario hydro bills, SunTech greenhouse

Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod addressed Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault in an evening session of the Ontario Legislature, to express concern about the plight of Ontario farmers and growers whose livelihoods are suffering due to high electricity bills.

She used the examples of the Manotick-based greenhouse operation SunTech, Osgoode Mushroom, and North Gower Grains to show how different growers are being affected by unrelenting increases in electricity bills, much of which is due to the government’s push for wind and solar power.

See MPP MacLeod’s speech and the Energy Minister’s response here.

Even though her riding will soon split, MacLeod said, she will “always” stand up for Ontario farmers.

Wind power contracts add to rising hydro bills, says Ottawa Wind Concerns

25 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

hydro bills Ontario, Lisa MacLeod MPP, North Gower, Ontario, Ottawa wind concerns, Parker Gallant, PCPO, Scott Moffatt Rideau-Goulbourn, surplus power Ontario, wind energy, wind farm, wind power

February 25, 2017

Wind power contracts should be cancelled: Mike Baggott of Ottawa Wind Concerns

Wind power contracts should be cancelled to control electricity costs: Mike Baggott of Ottawa Wind Concerns

Ottawa Wind Concerns was an invited guest speaker this week at a pre-budget consultation event held by Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod, at the Alfred Taylor Centre in North Gower.

Executive member with the group and North Gower resident Mike Baggott told the audience that while Ontario’s electricity bills are among the highest in North America, more costs, specifically expensive wind power contracts awarded to power developers, were yet to come.

“Everyone wants to do the right thing for the environment,” Baggott explained, “but has the Ontario government done the right thing?” Two Auditors General said there was never any cost-benefit or impact analysis for the province’s green energy plan, and the Wynne government pays twice as much for renewable energy as other jurisdictions do. The expensive wind contracts are among the factors pushing electricity bills up.

“As high as our bills are now,” Baggott said, “they will get worse if projects in Ontario recently awarded contracts are allowed to proceed.”

He noted the power projects in La Nation, east of Ottawa, and North Stormont –both opposed by the local communities — will cost Ontario ratepayers over $600 million for the 20-year contracts.

In all, Ontario is facing $5 billion in new wind power contracts, at a time when the province has a surplus of power. Wind power also cannot demonstrate any benefits to the environment, Baggott said.

“It’s time to stop digging the hole,” Baggott concluded.

The main speaker at the event was Parker Gallant, a former banker whose energy sector analysis is frequently published in The Financial Post, who explained line by line, “What’s in Your Hydro Bill.”

MPP MacLeod outlined steps that can be taken to control electricity costs, and answered questions from the audience.

“It’s hard not to get depressed when you hear, line by line, how we got here with our electricity bills,” commented Rideau-Goulbourn councilor Scott Moffatt.

Parker Gallant: what's in your hydro bill? A lot of government mistakes

Parker Gallant: what’s in your hydro bill? A lot of government mistakes

 

MPP MacLeod to host pre-budget energy events

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

electricity bills Ontario, energy poverty, Lisa MacLeod MPP, Ontario 2017 budget, Ontario hydro bills, Parker Gallant, Wind Concerns Ontario

MPP Lisa MacLeod will be holding two pre-budget consultations on energy issues, the first of which is scheduled for:

Thursday, February 23,  7-9 PM

Alfred Taylor Centre

2300 Community Way, North Gower

Special guest will be Parker Gallant. Mr Gallant’s commentary on energy issues is regularly published in The Financial Post and other media; he is a former international banker and vice-president at Toronto Dominion Bank. He is vice-president of Wind Concerns Ontario.

Parker Gallant

Parker Gallant

 

The second event will be in early March, location TBA.

You can read Parker Gallant’s commentary on his blog, Parker Gallant Energy Perspectives

MPP MacLeod: return local land-use planning control

02 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

green energy, Green Energy Act, land use plannin, Liberal government, Lisa MacLeod, Lisa MacLeod MPP, Nepean-Carleton, Queen’s Park, wind farm, wind power, wind power developers, wind turbine

LISA MACLEOD MPP-NEPEAN-CARLETON
NEWS RELEASE
December 2, 2014
END THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE, RESTORE LOCAL DECISION MAKING: MACLEOD
(Queen’s Park)- Nepean- Carleton PC MPP Lisa MacLeod brought the fight against wind turbine developments once again to Queen’s Park today.
“One of the big challenges the government has is credibility in rural and remote communities across the province because of the Green Energy Act.  The government should restore local decision making to municipalities in an effort to signal they respect those communities”, said MacLeod
The Green Energy Act overrides 21 different pieces of legislation, including the Heritage Act and the Planning Act, so wind turbine developers can build projects without any push back from municipalities or their residents.
“The rural-urban divide in Ontario is very real as a result of disastrous policies like the Green Energy Act.  It is never too late for the Liberal Government to admit it is wrong and make wind turbine developers go through the same processes any other developer would have to in the Province of Ontario”, concluded MacLeod.
-30-
For More Information Contact Jordan Milks
1-416-352-6351

 

PC Energy Critic MacLeod to hold pre-budget consultations

18 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

electricity bills Ontario, Green Energy Act, High Hydro Bills, Kemptville College, Lisa MacLeod MPP, Ontario Budget concerns, Pre-Budget Consultations, wind farm RichmondP, wind farms North Gower, wind power Ontario

Transparent Logo
Pre-Budget Consultations
Here’s your chance to talk to MPP MacLeod about your Ontario Budget concerns!  She’s ready to discuss the closure of Kemptville College, the cutbacks at Winchester District Memorial Hospital, High Hydro Bills, the Green Energy Act, the future of horseracing, jobs and taxes!
Sunday, March 23
12:00 p.m-1:30 p.m         Manotick Legion
2:00 p.m-3:30 p.m            Osgoode Legion
4:00 p.m-5:30 p.m            Greely Legion
6:00 p.m-7:30 p.m            Bells Corners Legion
TO RSVP YOUR SPOT CALL 613-823-2116 or EMAIL lisa@lisamacleod.com

North Gower plans to be “Not a Willing Host”

16 Wednesday Oct 2013

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

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

legal action North Gower, Lisa MacLeod MPP, North Gower wind farm, Not a Willing host, Pierre Poilievre

When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne held her first interviews after being elected the Ontario Liberal Party leader, and thus, Premier, she was asked about the controversy over wind power projects in Ontario. She said, her government would not be forcing the power projects on communities that were not “willing hosts.”

Today, 72 Ontario municipalities have declared themselves to be “Not a Willing Host” ( see windconcernsontario.ca Not a Willing Host tab for the list of communities).

North Gower is not a legal municipality since amalgamation with the City of Ottawa, but residents plan to be declared Not a Willing Host by using a legal petition to the City of Ottawa.

“This petition is a legal document, signed and witnessed by members of our community,” says Ottawa Wind Concerns chair Jane Wilson. “We will take this petition to the City of Ottawa and make sure the City overall knows that there is no support here for a wind power generation utility so close to homes, and our school.”

Wilson notes that Ontario often has a surplus of power and has sold excess for a loss to neighbouring jurisdictions such as Michigan or New York State, and that the Ontario government recently announced it is paying wind power companies NOT to add power to the grid. “So why build another one?” she asks. “Why subject yet another Ontario community to the dramatic impact of a wind power project it it’s not even needed?”

The proposed 20-megawatt wind power project will be within 3.5 km of more than 1,000 homes, Wilson explained. A conservative estimate of the average property value loss is over $130 million.

MPP Lisa MacLeod, now energy critic for the opposition has often spoken against the wind power project; MP Pierre Poilievre has said it makes no sense financially, and commissioned a Library of Parliament study to show that subsidies for the project from Ontario taxpayers would be about $4.8 million per year.

The petition-signing debut for North Gower residents is Saturday October 26th at 10 a.m. at the Alfred Taylor Centre on Community Way. Special guest Parker Gallant, frequent contributor to the Financial Post series “Ontario’s Power Trip,” will deliver a presentation “What’s in your electricity bill?” by videolink at the event.

Residents who are unable to attend will be able to sign the petition when volunteer canvassers come to their door, or on a special “voting day” at the Alfred Taylor Centre on Saturday November 9 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

For more information, email Ottawa Wind Concerns at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Mayor Watson’s letter to our community

05 Monday Aug 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

cost-benefit analysis wind power, Green Energy Act, Jim Watson, Lisa MacLeod MPP, Mayor City of Ottawa, Ontario Power Authority, Prowind, renewable energy planning Ontario, wind farm North Gower, wind farm Richmond, wind power Ottawa

Back in May, after the decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the case of Wiggins et al vs wpd, we wrote to the Mayor of the City of Ottawa to inform him of the importance of the Court’s decision: that it was acceptable for property owners who live as neighbours to property being leased for industrial-scale wind turbines to sue for property value loss and nuisance at the time of approval of a wind power project (i.e., they do not have to wait until the power project is built), and that the Court accepted that property value loss had already occurred simply with the announcement of the power project near Clearview Ontario, on the order of 22-50 percent.

The effect of the proposed wind power project in North Gower-Richmond will be significant, we wrote , in terms of the potential danger to health (also acknowledged by the Court) and property value loss, which we estimate to be approximately–and conservatively–$70 million.

We received a reply from the Mayor, in which he repeats that this is a provincial responsibility (that was written in all capital letters so we wouldn’t miss it), and that the “regime” [sic] in place for renewable energy approvals is “quite onerous.”

“Should a wind power developer* seek a renewable energy approval in Ottawa,” he wrote, “the City will review all documentation and information relating to the proposed development and fully participate in any such consultative process. …the City will be in a better position to assess its response…and to address any concerns and needs of the public.”  Note he does not say that the City will ensure people are not harmed; he does not say, the City will ensure that its residents are protected.

The letter is here: MayorWatsonLetterJuly17

We wrote back–sorry to take up more of his time–and said that we had recently participated in “dialogue” sessions with the province and found that we, along with other stakeholders, believe the renewable power (they keep saying ‘energy’ because it sounds nicer than power plants, but that’s the truth) planning process is deeply flawed and Ontario needs a completely new process. There was NO ONE from the City of Ottawa at the evening session we attended, and as far as we know, NO ONE from the City of Ottawa at the morning session, hosted by the Ontario Power Authority.

We told the Mayor that we demanded a return of local land-use planning powers to municipalities (removed by the Green Energy Act) and also a cost-benefit analysis including the impacts, financial and health, on local communities.

Many analysts are now describing the province’s “green” energy plan as a monumental policy failure that has already run electricity prices so high it is affecting businesses’ ability to be competitive (let alone survive) and has had an astounding effect on Ontario’s rural and small urban communities.

All we ask is that our City protect us from a power plant that is not needed, which uses an invasive, expensive and unreliable technology,  and which will doubtless negatively affect this community.

NWH-Ottawa.jpg large

Not a Willing Host demonstration, Ottawa City Hall, April 2013; MPP Lisa MacLeod and community members.

Ottawa Wind Concerns

*the Marlborough 1 project is on “hold” until the province announces its new procurement process; wind developer Prowind, headquartered in Germany, told the Ottawa Citizen recently that it intends to reapply when the new process is in place.

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Donations welcome at PO Box 3, North Gower ON   K0A 2T0

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