Dozens of people turned out Wednesday at the Kinburn CC to view the Official Plan map, sign a petition for better setbacks from wind turbines, and help butter tarts vanish! [Photo: Ottawa Wind Concerns]
April 28, 2023
Dozens of people from West Carleton-March and beyond turned out to an drop-in information event held in Kinburn by Ottawa Wind Concerns. The goal of the event was to help people understand the new Ottawa Official Plan and its designated areas for renewable energy projects, as the city is now working on zoning bylaws.
Ottawa Wind Concerns is promoting safe setback distances between industrial-scale wind turbines and homes, and has a petition requesting a 2-km setback, minimum, to property lines.
Information kits were available, plus large copies of the Official Plan maps for viewing.
The new Official Plan allows renewable energy projects on “Rural Countryside,” “Greenbelt,” and “environmental lands.”
Both West Carleton and Rideau-Jock wards have significant land areas branded “rural countryside” as well as prime agricultural land.
People attending were concerned about the environmental impacts should wind power projects be built and many recalled a proposal made 14 years ago that was extremely unpopular. It did not proceed but a large solar power project was built near Galetta. Questions were asked about the success and usefulness of that power project today.
“People are very well informed on the issue of environmental impacts of large-scale wind and solar power projects,” says Ottawa Wind Concerns president Jane Wilson, “and they’re asking questions about battery storage systems, too. It’s great to see people come out like this to get more information, and to participate the City’s engagement process on the new zoning bylaws.”
The trend is for greater setback distances now between wind turbines and homes, Wilson says. “Former energy minister Glenn Thibeault in the Wynne government admitted that mistakes were made in siting wind turbines years ago. We’re saying, we know a lot more about wind turbines now—let’s not make those mistakes again.”
Wind turbines are an industrial use of the land, Wilson adds.
Residents attending also spoke of concerns about wind turbines and effectiveness as a power source. “Ontario is just not a windy place,” said one. “Why are we doing this?”
Councillor Clarke Kelly dropped in and spoke with residents, and West Carleton Online editor/publisher Jake Davies spoke with people as they viewed the maps.
Other organizations with a pro-wind power view sent representatives to the event, including CAFES and the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative (OREC), a group that invests in wind and solar power projects.
Free butter tarts were on offer from Sweet & Sassy Bakery in nearby Arnprior.
Wind turbines near Crysler, Ontario, 40 minutes south of Ottawa: protective bylaws needed [Photo: D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario(C)]
April 22, 2023
“Earth Day”
A petition asking the City of Ottawa to develop new, protective bylaws that include a setback between industrial-scale or grid-scale wind turbines was launched at an event held in North Gower Last Thursday.
Dozens of people attended, coming from West Carleton, Carlsbad Springs, Navan, Greely, Richmond and North Gower to learn more about the City’s background documents for the new zoning bylaw process, and to see maps depicting where renewable energy projects—including wind turbines—could be located according to Ottawa’s new RuralMapOttawa.
People attending were concerned about the environmental impacts of large wind turbines including the introduction of noise and vibration (low frequency noise), the impacts on wildlife and aquifers, loss of land used to produce food, and the effect on property values.
Ward 21 Rideau-Jock councillor David Brown dropped in to hear resident concerns.
The petition asks for a 2-km setback which, as community group Ottawa Wind Concerns chair Jane Wilson explains, is in line with many countries in Europe and follows the trend in the United States to longer setback distances. “Just recently, a jurisdiction in Nebraska, which has plenty of experience with wind turbines, installed a setback of two miles,” she says.
The group consulted U.S. acoustics expert Robert Rand who said the setback distance was “a reasonable compromise.”
The City of Ottawa has acknowledged that there could be significant environmental impacts on rural residents should wind turbines be erected, and staff has said in public meetings and correspondence that they want to “do the right thing.”
Many people attending Thursday’s launch event said they were eager to see protective setbacks but they were not persuaded that the City should be open to expensive, intermittent wind power to support widespread electrification. The City’s $57-B Energy Evolution climate action plan proposes 3200 megawatts of wind power, which the report translates as 700 wind turbines.
Environmental impacts are high for little return with grid-scale wind turbines.
Another drop-in information event will be held in Kinburn at the Community Centre on April 26th between 5-7 PM. (Locally made butter tarts will be served again!)
Anyone wishing to sign the petition can download the document here petition-1
Signed copies can be picked up, just email ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com , or mailed to:
Wind turbines create environmental noise and pose risks to safety, wildlife, and our water supply. New bylaws must protect people and the environment, says Ottawa Wind Concerns.
The City of Ottawa is in the process of developing new zoning bylaws as a follow-up to approval of the city’s new Official Plan.
As the Official Plan allows for renewable energy (power) projects to be built on
“Rural Countryside”
Greenbelt and Greenbelt Facility
Environmental lands.
it will be important to have appropriate and effective protective zoning bylaws, especially for the residents of rural Ottawa who will likely be living near any sort of power generation or storage project.
The City has posted a series of Discussion Papers and is accepting comments on these documents; there are surveys available for each of the six Discussion Papers but the open-ended comment portion accepts only a limited number of characters as a response.
Ottawa Wind Concerns has filed a comment with the new zoning team at the City. Here are a few of our comments.
On the Equity, Diversion and Inclusion paper, we wrote:
The expressed goal is to discuss “tradeoffs and compromises between competing goals and interests in the hopes of producing a safe, functional and liveable city for everyone.”
The City’s goal of generating power from “renewable” sources includes large-scale wind power projects according to the Energy Evolution document. That will result in industrialization of rural communities, with significant impact on the quality of life including the danger to aquifers, the introduction of noise pollution to the environment, and the reduction of property values which will affect the economic well-being of residents. In short, large-scale wind power development will work against the goal of “environmental health equity”, as described on page 1 of this paper.
Separation distances are mentioned in the paper (page 5) as a way to “prohibit land uses within a certain distance of each other.” The examples mentioned however are “group homes” and shelters. Again, any sort of power generation will be an industrial land use, and in the case of larger scale development will almost certainly be located in the rural areas. For wind turbines in particular, noise emissions and vibration/sound pressure have been demonstrated around the world as a serious impact on people forced to live nearby. Not only do the turbines create noise emissions, but so does power infrastructure such as transformer substations, which can emit harmful low frequency noise or infrasound. Solar power installations have similar infrastructure that can produce noise pollution, as do Battery Energy Storage Systems or BESS, which emit noise, and represent other risks such as fire.
Noted U.S. acoustics expert Robert Rand has said,
“Unlike other power plant technologies which have numerous noise control options, the only reliable noise control for wind turbines is distance.” —Robert Rand, Health Impacts of Industrial Wind Turbines, presentation September 10, 2019.
The setback distances in Ontario in effect today were created prior to widespread wind power development in 2009 and are widely regarded as inadequate. They are not supported by current scientific literature, nor do they align with the trend among many jurisdictions, particularly in the U.S. to establish greater setback distances for health and safety.
Ottawa Wind Concerns has already recommended a setback distance of 2 km between wind turbine zones and residential areas. Acoustician Robert Rand, quoted above, says the 2-km setback is a “reasonable compromise.”
“It isn’t hard to design facilities to be good acoustic neighbours,” Rand says.
Interestingly, the detailed discussion of “pollution” occurs not in the paper on public health but in the Equity paper. We noted:
While this area of the paper focuses on traffic and pollution, the city policy of promoting power generation from “renewable” sources such as wind and solar also represents a risk of pollution, specifically noise pollution. There are many documents supporting this including the Health Canada wind turbine noise study, and the Council of Canadian Academies report, “Understanding the evidence”.
Canadian researchers examined the public health approach to wind turbine noise and concluded:
“Based on our analysis of clinical, biological, and experimental evidence and its concordance with the nine BH criteria, we conclude that there is a high probability that emissions from IWTs, including infrasound and LFN, result in serious harm to health in susceptible individuals living and/or working in their proximity. These effects can be attributed to IWTrelated events such as recurring sleep disturbance, anxiety and stress, and likely others.”
They called upon public health authorities to take a precautionary approach to preventing adverse health effects, and act now:
“With the growing weight of evidence indicating this causation and the rapid proliferation of IWT installations globally, preventative actions should be taken, and policies implemented that are more cautiously protective of public health, safety, and welfare rather than wait for absolute certainty. … Our findings provide compelling evidence that there is a pressing need for risk assessment before deployment of IWT into rural community settings that consider more effective and precautionary setback distances. A margin of safety sufficient to prevent pathogenic LFN from being detected by the human vestibular system is paramount before proceeding with political or economic policies.”
While the introduction of noise to the environment is a serious and likely impact, one that will affect public health, there is another issue: safety. Grid-scale wind turbines operate under enormous stresses; around the world the number of “catastrophic failures” of wind turbines is rising. Some blame poor workmanship, or too speedy installation—whatever the cause, it will be important to have setbacks that ensure safety for people on public lands and roadways. The current setbacks, established in 2009, are not adequate.
Another Discussion Paper is devoted to Land Use Strategy. Our comment:
Our only comment here is that among the land uses listed on page 1, under “Industrial land uses”, power generation is not mentioned. When the city is planning massive power generation development as per Energy Evolution (page 45), such as 36 sq km of solar panels, 3200 megawatts or 700+ wind turbines (each turbine requiring as much as 5 acres of land), and 122 shipping container-sized battery storage systems, that is a significant industrial land use.
The amount of land needed for this adventure appears not to have been considered; it is certainly not discussed. World renowned environmental and energy expert Canadian professor Vaclav Smil noted in his book Power Density that industrial-scale wind is a low-density power source with several negative characteristics including the need for a lot of land: “disfiguration of landscapes is not the only consequence of the limited power densities of wind power. The need to install large numbers of machines tends to reduce the width of noise exclusion corridors, to increase the chances of large-scale bird fatalities, and to affect many terrestrial species as a consequence of the fragmentation of their habitat. In windy and sparsely populated Scotland, the rule is to allow 2 km between wind farms and the edge of cities and villages”.
Smil’s discussion of power density brings up another point: Ottawa’s insistence on wind and solar, both acknowledged intermittent power sources, is not based on any comparative analysis of power generation technologies. Wind power is a low density power source, i.e., it needs a lot of land to produce a small amount of power. Capacity is another concern; wind turbines do not generate power 100 percent of the time. Often we hear wind power developers boast that a wind power project will power X thousands of homes, when the truthful version of that statement would add, “30 percent of the time.”
Similarly, we try to make the point that any kind of power generation is in fact an industrial use of the land. So, in response to the paper on Neighbourhood Character, we made the following comment.
This Discussion Paper deals with building height and type of structures such as low-, mid-rise, and high-rise buildings but nothing approaches what would be happening to Ottawa’s rural villages and homeowners, should grid-scale or industrial-scale wind turbines be installed.
The impact is so severe that property value loss is a significant concern. Some studies have shown that property value loss in other areas of Ontario where wind turbines were built was as much as 50 percent or, in worst cases, house did not sell at all, indicating they had literally no value to prospective buyers in an open market.
When a wind power project was being contemplated nearby, the Town of Henderson NY contracted with Nanos Research and Clarkson University to do a study on the impact on property values. The study states:
“We see that parcels with a view of theturbines sell for a positive premium (approximately 10%) before the turbines are built, butthat this premium is more than eroded by a strong negative impact after turbineconstruction.
The estimated coefficient of -0.164 that describes this effect implies a 15%decrease in property values for homes with a view after the turbines are built. We alsocalculate a 95% confidence interval for this effect, which tells us that, given the observeddata, there is a 95% chance that the true effect is a decrease of between 5.1% and 23.9%.
So, while we can’t be confident that the effect is exactly negative 15%, we arereasonablyconfident that there was a negative impact.”
We must ask, what homeowner can tolerate a drop of more than 20 percent in the value of their home? Particularly for young families already struggling with the cost of home ownership, or people on fixed incomes who are relying on the value of their homes to support them in later years? What kind of zoning bylaw policy proceeds with this type of dramatic economic impact?
In response to the Rural Zoning Issues paper, we again focus on the nature of land use, and also refer to the potential for effects on groundwater.
The paper also refers to the Energy Evolution plan, and states that “Renewable electricity projects will need to contribute an estimated 8.5% of our electricity sources in Ottawa” (page 6). There is no reference provided for this figure, and to the best of our knowledge, the 8.5 percent figure does not appear in the public Energy Evolution document. Where did that come from? What is the basis for this “requirement”? Is there any input from Hydro Ottawa or Hydro One?
Another statement is puzzling: “Local energy production and storage … can help reduce the impact of power outages from the large producers, which are occurring more frequently due to more extreme weather events.” With all due respect, this is preposterous. When there are “weather events” such as freezing rain or tornadoes or whatever, the power from “large producers” such as Ontario’s nuclear power generating stations or hydro facilities is not absent—it simply cannot be transmitted because of problems with the transmission system, usually, broken or downed power lines.
Under Environmental Protection is a brief discussion of the need for protection of natural environment areas and wetlands, and a previous paragraph deals with surface water. The risk to aquifers is not mentioned anywhere yet this is a major concern whenever wind and solar power projects are proposed. The foundations for wind turbines are huge, as you can imagine for 60-storey, vibrating structures. The risk to aquifers has been the subject of appeals of other wind power project approvals, notably the Nation Rise project south of Ottawa, which is located on a provincially designated fragile aquifer. In the North Kent area of Ontario, a wind power project proceeded over citizen concerns and today, dozens of families are without potable water. A provincial health review study found that there was a link to the construction and operation of the wind turbines on the fragile aquifer, and more study is currently underway.
The Ontario Ground Water Association has expressed concern about wind turbines and put out this statement: “Proper environmental analysis is necessary before choosing an appropriate location for wind turbines to ensure there’s no impact on #groundwater resources.”
The comment was filed with the engagement team at newzoning@ottawa.ca
While citizens can use the surveys attached to each grouping of Discussion Papers, people might want to create their own, longer comments and file them, using the email referenced above.
Sign the petition
Ottawa Wind Concerns has also launched a petition to formally ask for a 2-km setback for wind turbines and homes. You may download it here: Petition
You can fold it into a mailer and send to: Wind Concerns, PO Box 91047 RPO SIGNATURE CTR KANATA ON K2T 0A3
New zoning bylaws to be fast-tracked for 2023 in light of Ontario government’s current new power procurement plan
See the presentation of the power generation bylaw motion by Councillor David Brown beginning at minute 53
February 23, 2023
OTTAWA
Ottawa City Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a motion put forward by Ward 21 Rideau-Jock councillor David Brown, and seconded by West Carleton-March councillor Clarke Kelly, to hold off granting municipal approval for any new power project proposals that may come forward as a result of provincial government procurement plans. The motion directs staff to tell proponents that municipal support will not be granted until review by a Standing Committee; the Motion further stipulates that developing zoning bylaws for new power generation installation should be done in the Planning department’s 2023 “Workbook” ahead of 2024-2025 for the new suite of bylaws as a whole.
The deadline for the Independent Electricity System Operator’s first phase of new procurement, for 1,500 megawatts of power, was last Thursday, February 16. The IESO plans another RFP to be launched this spring or summer, for an additional 2,500 megawatts of new power.
The motion passed yesterday stipulates that staff be directed to inform proponents of any new power generation projects: “staff will not bring such requests to Council unless such requests are considered through the relevant Standing Committee, it being understood that the Standing Committee will act in accordance with the timelines provided in the LT1 RFP, furthermore, that Hydro Ottawa and its affiliates, shall be entitled to obtain any Municipal Support Resolution required per the LT1 RFP (or other similar processes), via bilateral discussions with its sole shareholder, the City of Ottawa,”
and
“staff will bring forward an amendment to the City of Ottawa’s Zoning By-law that implements the intent of the policies in the Official Plan with respect to renewable energy generation facilities and storage by Q4 2023 that is in advance of the municipal Comprehensive Zoning By-law update“.
Ottawa saw only one submission in response to the most recent IESO Request for Proposals, a small Battery Energy Storage System proposed for Upper Dwyer Hill Road. Another, larger battery project is in development for the Cumberland area; the proponent is Brookfield’s Evolugen division. Both projects are supposed to have had public meetings to present project details; the Upper Dwyer Hill Road project meeting notice was only on the company’s website, and no members of the public attended the January 12th meeting.
Ottawa Wind Concerns made several presentations to city committees including the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee to warn that the IESO RFP was on the way, and that Ottawa needed to be ready with protective bylaws for large power generation projects such as wind turbines. Ontario’s regulations for noise levels and setbacks for noise and safety have not been changed since 2009, and are generally viewed as inadequate today.
The community group’s advice was rebuffed, however, with one rural councillor claiming in September that no such procurement was on the way. At that time, the IESO RFP process was in the final stages of “engagement.” The first RFP launched December 7, 2022.
Do wind turbines make noise? YES
Rural Ottawa has already experienced a proposal for a large wind power project when a proposal came forward under the Ontario government’s Feed-In Tariff program in 2009. It was for as many as eight 600-foot industrial wind turbines to be located in the North Gower area, to be built by Pro-Wind, a small company based in Germany. Residents rejected the proposal at the time, saying the power generating machines would be too close to homes and the village school. Residents signed a petition and presented it to City Hall; almost every property-owning resident of the North Gower area signed the document.
Interestingly, one of the proponent’s staff was interviewed by then radio host and journalist Mark Sutcliffe who asked, Do the wind turbines make noise?
“Of course they do,” said the project salesperson. “They’re power generators.”
Citizens of rural Ottawa are concerned that new power projects, no matter what the technology, will be located in rural areas. Noise pollution, vibration, loss of valuable farmland, risk to aquifers, and danger to wildlife are all important concerns.
We are trying to respond to community concerns, said Councillor David Brown, “That is really what this is all about.”
Ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
The motion, revised prior to Council, is here:
Re / Objet : Clarifying the process of approving new energy projects and infrastructure under the Requests for Proposals from Independent Electricity System Operator
Moved by / Motion de: Councillor D. Brown
Seconded by / Appuyée par: Councillor C. Kelly
WHEREAS the Independent Electricity System Operator has released an Expedited Procurement Process to procure 1.5 gigawatts of electrical capacity by mid-decade and has been engaging with municipalities with respect to Requests for Proposals for a significant number of new projects for energy generation, storage, and infrastructure; and
WHEREAS the Expedited Procurement Process (the E-LT1 RFP) closing February 16, 2023 includes three (3) of thirteen (13) Rated Criteria Points for municipal council support resolutions; and
WHEREAS after February 16, 2023 the Independent Electricity System Operator is planning two more procurement phases totalling 2.8 gigawatts of capacity to be available mid decade; and
WHEREAS the Independent Electricity System Operator requires a Municipal Support Resolution from the municipal council no later than sixty (60) days after the eighteen (18) month anniversary of the Contract Date; and
WHEREAS some Independent Electricity System Operator resources participate in the Ontario electricity market without contracts; and
WHEREAS it is not clear that the inability for a project to receive a “Municipal Support Resolution” will necessarily lead to the revocation of a proponent’s contract; and
WHEREAS Ottawa must decrease its reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting sources of energy, including by increasing local renewable energy generation and battery storage, to achieve its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets; and
WHEREAS the City has received a request for a Municipal Support Resolution for a 5-megawatt/20-megawatt hour battery energy storage system using lithium-ion battery technology at 650 Upper Dwyer Hill Road, Ottawa that is expected to occupy approximately 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) of land, including all required setbacks and spacing; and
WHEREAS municipalities, namely through land use policies in the Official Plan and provisions in the Zoning By-law, set their own priorities with respect to where energy generation, storage, and infrastructure may be permitted; and
WHEREAS increased energy generation, storage, and infrastructure can have significant impacts on local residents that are worth due consideration by Council under a framework in the Zoning By-law that reflects the City’s Official Plan; and
WHEREAS staff will bring forward an amendment to the City of Ottawa’s Zoning By-law that implements the intent of the policies in the Official Plan with respect to renewable energy generation facilities and storage by Q4 2023 that is in advance of the municipal Comprehensive Zoning By-law update;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor, on behalf of Council, write a letter to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Electricity System Operator to formally request confirmation that projects approved through the LT1 RFP and future procurements shall not proceed without a Municipal Support Resolution from municipal council in the form of an approved motion; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that staff be directed, in consultation with Hydro Ottawa, to come forward with recommendations in advance of the new Zoning By-law to help inform City Council plans for energy generation, storage and infrastructure as a deliverable project in the 2023 Planning, Real Estate and Economic Development Department Workplan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the appropriate Standing Committees evaluate current and future requests for Municipal Support Resolutions, informed by the recommendations referenced above until amendments have been made to Zoning By-law 2008-250 in Q4 2023; provided, however, that projects proposed by Hydro Ottawa and its affiliates shall be entitled to obtain such Municipal Support Resolution through bilateral discussions with its sole shareholder, the City of Ottawa; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that until such time as amendments have been made to Zoning By-law 2008-250 in Q4 2023, staff be directed to advise any proponents seeking a Municipal Support Resolution through the LT1 RFP that staff will not bring such requests to Council unless such requests are considered through the relevant Standing Committee, it being understood that the Standing Committee will act in accordance with the timelines provided in the LT1 RFP, furthermore, that Hydro Ottawa and its affiliates, shall be entitled to obtain any Municipal Support Resolution required per the LT1 RFP (or other similar processes), via bilateral discussions with its sole shareholder, the City of Ottawa.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this motion be sent to the Premier of Ontario, the Ontario Minister of Energy, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Not “forward-thinking”: Ottawa is not acting on its opportunity to protect rural citizens against wind turbine noise and vibration. [Photo: D. Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]
Planning committee co-chair responds with condescending, hostile messages; continues to deny Ottawa plans for wind turbines
October 11, 2022
While Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) prepares to launch new procurement initiatives for power generation, and wind power developers line up to apply for contracts, at least one councillor with the City of Ottawa denies the need for the city to issue protective bylaws for noise and setbacks for health and safety now.
Ottawa Wind Concerns has been updating the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC) as well as city staff charged with developing new zoning bylaws on both the need for protective regulation and the fact that other municipalities have already taken these steps. We made a presentation to ARAC in April, detailing the need for protective regulations, emphasizing that current provincial rules are inadequate.
Recently, we submitted letters to both the Planning Committee and ARAC warning that if the IESO opens the door to new wind power proposals, it will be too late to create bylaws for noise and setbacks. Ottawa needs to take action now, before proposals are made.
Here’s what we told ARAC:
SUBMISSION TO CITY OF OTTAWA AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE Urgent need for protective zoning bylaws for wind power projects/wind turbines September 28, 2022 This is a follow-up to our submission and presentation on April 7th by Ottawa Wind Concerns board member Michael Baggott, requesting protective zoning bylaws and a setback distance of at least 2 km for industrial-scale or grid-scale wind turbines. We have discussed this presentation with the Carleton Landowners and have their support in making this submission. What is new: The Independent Electricity System Operator or IESO is launching several Requests for Proposal, to acquire 3,500 megawatts of new power generation. (Reference: https://www.ieso.ca/en/Sector-Participants/Resource-Acquisition-and-Contracts/Long-TermRFP-and-Expedited-Process ) The IESO has released a list of Qualified Applicants, of which more than a dozen are wind power developers. One new contract has already been awarded (an extension to Melancthon I) and wind power developers have already announced their intention to propose new projects. (Capital Power, September 22, Windsor, Ontario)
The City of Ottawa confirms that it wants “predominately wind and solar” power to achieve climate action goals (reference: climate manager Mike Fletcher), repeated by climate manager Andrea Flowers to the environmental protection committee May 17th: “We have explicitly said [our plans] would include wind and solar.” The IESO has released a set of draft documents related to municipal approval and community engagement. Deadline for stakeholder comment is September 30. Problems: As documented previously, Ontario current setback for noise of 550m is inadequate and not aligned with regulation in other jurisdictions today. Setback from roadways, public pathways etc. not adequate for protection Once proposals are made, and officially submitted, a zoning bylaw cannot apply to those proposals. (Future ones, yes)
Ottawa citizens, particularly those in rural areas who would be forced to have these power generation projects, are very concerned about noise pollution, impacts on property value, effects on the aquifer and private water wells, as well as the risk to wildlife including endangered species. This was acknowledged by Ottawa staff Andrea Flowers on May 17 when she said the City would respond to concerns with appropriate zoning. This cannot wait. Protective zoning bylaws for grid-scale wind turbines are needed urgently, before any proposals for new wind power development come forward. We understand that the City is engaged in developing new bylaws connected to the new Official Plan, but this bylaw or set of bylaws cannot wait until second quarter of next year when the new draft bylaws could be presented. An option would be for a resolution to the effect that the CIty of Ottawa will not review or approve any proposals for new power generation until after the new bylaws come into effect. In a meeting we had with Councillor Eli El-Chantiry and ARAC chair on this subject in 2019, we were told that municipalities can act quite quickly if they have to. The time to “act quickly” is now.
…
Two days before the ARAC meeting, Ward 21 Councillor Scott Moffatt ( a member of ARAC and also Planning co-chair) sent this message.
I’ll try to be direct so that your Twitter account doesn’t spin my words.
As it stands today, the City does not have an explicit zone that permits wind turbines. All we have is the pending Official Plan which seeks to prohibit their installation in the Agricultural Resource Area. You and I both know that the Province is not required to adhere to municipal policies and by-laws. Nevertheless, the City has committed to reviewing this matter as part of its upcoming Zoning By-Law process.
What you are seeking is a more immediate zoning setback. What you are not considering is that to apply a zoning setback, you need an explicitly permissive zone. I don’t believe the residents of Ottawa would appreciate a quick greenlighting of wind turbines on their properties just so that we can implement a setback that may or may not be respected by the Province.
My position on this has always been that we cannot bury our heads and assume that wind will never come. I’ve also said that there was no current application process for wind, which your Twitter account spun and mocked. Regardless of the recent IESO announcement, I still don’t foresee this current Provincial Government approving wind but they won’t always be in power. While the City will not be an applicant for wind power, we should ensure we prepare for what could come. That led to the OP inclusion and the future zoning discussion. For the sake of the communities you want to represent, I would not recommend rushing that process.
The message was copied to every member of both committees. Not one of them countered the inaccuracies in the message.
The City doesn’t need an “explicit zone” that permits turbines. True, the Official Plan says where they may NOT go, but it is absurd to say that a turbine zone must be described in order for there to be setback or noise regulations, or even a general policy statement. The City already has bylaws about where development may or may not be located, and bylaws governing noise in communities etc. The City has the option to create a resolution, as we suggested, to note its policy intentions, which would help protect in case any proposals come forward now.
“The Province is not required to adhere to municipal policies”—municipalities are free to create their own bylaws, which several have already done with regard to wind turbine noise limits, setback distances, and height restrictions. Yes, the province could enact something like the Green Energy Act which blatantly removed municipal powers, but the current government restored them in 2019. Not going backwards.
Protective bylaws constitute “greenlighting” of wind power projects???
“No current application process for wind”: that was exactly our point. One is coming. And it’s coming fast. We simply asked the City to take steps to protect the residents of rural communities BEFORE it becomes impossible to do so.
The City won’t be an “applicant” for wind power. Maybe not but the $57B Energy Evolution plan and statements by staff make it clear the city’s climate action plan is to increase electricity available which they intend to do by “predominately wind and solar” (City staff quote). So Ottawa may not be an “applicant” but it certainly intends at the moment to encourage wind power development. One of the “catalyst projects” is to have 20 megawatts of wind turbines by 2025. (We learned via documents obtained under Freedom of Information request that the project is “on hold” while the Province reviews requirements for net metering.)
Our Twitter account does not engage in “spin” or “mockery.” Our goal is to inform. The fact is, the City of Ottawa has been woefully unaware of, or wilfully ignoring, Ontario’s disastrous history with expensive, unreliable and ineffective wind power. Why? What’s the agenda?
We showed this response to colleagues who are or who have in the past been municipal councillors and their reaction was that this response was puzzling at a minimum, and disrespectful of community concerns. One commented that the purpose of the response could be taken to be an attempt to “throw you off the scent.”
We also consulted an urban planner who remarked that Mr. Moffatt’s response was “garbled and condescending.” The planner was surprised at the lack of understanding from a co-chair of the city’s planning committee, and additionally that Ottawa is not further ahead on this matter, as are other jurisdictions. “Not forward-thinking” was the planner’s comment.
Again, not one member of the Planning Committee countered the inaccuracies.
We can only hope now that the next Council is committed to a review of the problematic Energy Evolution plan, at least as far as the electricity generation proposals (written for the city by an activist group) are concerned, and that the next Planning Committee is more interested in awareness of current events and potential impacts on rural communities.
Election Day is October 24; next Advance Poll is October 14. Ask questions of candidates NOW and choose wisely.
ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
List of IESO Qualified Applicants for new power contracts. Check the companies that are wind power developers. Conclusion: wind is coming.
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
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
House amid industrial wind turbines in the Nation Rise Wind Farm: noise emissions can affect neighbours [Photo: Dorothea Larsen for Wind Concerns Ontario]
The huge wind turbines in the Nation Rise wind farm have been off for 9 days—and residents couldn’t be happier
May 30, 2022
Ottawa–The 29 wind turbines that power the Nation Rise wind farm in North Stormont, 40 minutes south of Ottawa, have been quiet for nine days, since just before the “derecho” chain of thunderstorms that rampaged across Ontario .
The blades on the wind power generators, which are more than 600 feet tall, or equal to 60-storey office buildings in height, are turning gently, but not creating any electrical power.
The result? QUIET. And peace in more ways than that, as not just the audible sound of the turbines has gone, but also the inaudible emissions that humans perceive as pressure and vibration.
People who live inside the power project are experiencing a retreat of the physical symptoms that suggest poor health, including headache, ringing in the ears, a sensation of pressure in the chest, and elevated blood pressure and heart rate.
Best of all, say the people who have contacted us, they can sleep.
Long-term sleep disturbance is well documented as a factor in poor health and can have serious consequences including heart disease.
Wind turbines are not a non-emitting source of power. They are known to produce a range of sound emissions, some audible, some inaudible. Ontario’s noise regulations and setback distances for wind turbines — unchanged since 2009, despite more powerful wind turbines — only deal with audible noise.
I can sleep!
Residents contacting Wind Concerns Ontario have commented that since the wind turbines halted operation, not only have symptoms such as headaches and racing heartbeats retreated, they are finally able to sleep at night, and have more energy.
“I used to have to have a nap every afternoon,” said one resident, who said she usually feels exhausted all the time from being wakened frequently in the night. Since the turbines have been off “I have slept unbelievably well.”
Others under the care of cardiologists for what they describe as “racing” heart beats and, in some cases, evidence of heart attacks, also say they are feeling better this week, and feel that their heart health has improved.
One person living near Crysler who has not only turbines but also the transformer substation nearby reported: “all heart palpitations are gone, NO STINGING PAINS Heart is beating normal blood pressure is normal all in 4 days as the turbines stay off“.
Symptom disappearance an indication of harm
According to a paper written by physician Dr Robert McMurtry an medical researcher Carmen Krogh, published in 2014, there is a list of symptoms that are suggestive of harm being done by exposure to wind turbine noise emissions.
And, a key indicator that harm is being caused could be what happens when people leave their home environment. Krogh and McMurtry wrote: “Significant improvement away from the environs of wind turbines and a revealed preference for sleeping away from home serve to distinguish between AHE/IWT from other conditions.“
Ottawa ignoring adverse effects
It is worrying that the City of Ottawa, perhaps 40 minutes away from Nation Rise, has created a strategy for electrification and “Net Zero” in its Energy Evolution document. A model in the strategy calls for 3,200 megawatts of wind power or more than 700 industrial-scale wind turbines in the rural areas of that city.
And the Government of Ontario will soon release a Request for Proposals for 1,000 megawatts of new power generation, some of which might be from wind energy.
Meanwhile, the problems with existing wind turbines have not been addressed: the government (under premiers McGuinty, Wynne and Ford) has thousands of files* of reports of noise pollution and other effects from wind turbines, but enforcement is lax.
Wind Concerns Ontario did a review of operating wind power projects to determine the status of the required audits to verify compliance: only 43 percent have completed and accepted audits.
It is a violation of the Environmental Protection Act or EPA of Ontario to cause an adverse effect. “Adverse effect” is defined in the Act.
“adverse effect” means one or more of,
(a) impairment of the quality of the natural environment for any use that can be made of it,
(b) injury or damage to property or to plant or animal life,
(c) harm or material discomfort to any person,
(d) an adverse effect on the health of any person,
(e) impairment of the safety of any person,
(f) rendering any property or plant or animal life unfit for human use,
(g) loss of enjoyment of normal use of property, and
(h) interference with the normal conduct of business; (“conséquence préjudiciable”)
Co-owners of the Nation Rise power project are EDP Renewables and the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan who have a contract extending to 2041. Obviously, the wind turbines will start operating again, but it is unknown what the effects will be for people living near Nation Rise wind turbines as the turbines resume operation.
People are reminded to report any effects to the Ontario environment ministry by calling 1-866-MOE-TIPS or by using the online reporting tool here Report Pollution | Ontario.ca (gov.on.ca) Be sure to include descriptions of any health impacts or harm being experienced.
“New technology” wind turbines seen from street in Crysler, Ontario, 2 km away: big, noisy, industrial
May 18, 2022
The City of Ottawa’s Environmental Protection Committee passed a motion on “City Renewable Energy” yesterday in an unanimous vote.
The motion, presented by Bay Ward Councillor Theresa Kavanaugh, contained these statements in Section 3:
3. Approve that, contingent on sufficient resources, Council direct staff to report back to the Standing Committee on Environmental Protection, Water and Waste Management by Q4 2023 with:
a) An evaluation of existing solar PV systems and impact to facilities installed at City owned facilities
iv. Potential policies to install distributed energy resources at City facilities or on City land
There was only one question from the committee members, and it came from Committee Chair Scott Moffatt, who noted that he has been telling rural residents of Ottawa that the City is not planning to develop wind power.
Councillor Moffatt: … the concerns still arise and I made it clear in the past to rural associations and community members that the City itself is not actively out there exploring opportunities to stick wind turbines in your backyard, but we would also be foolish to not think that this is something that could happen in the future. …
We made some commitments to looking at zoning and setbacks when that time comes, in the next term of Council, also through the Official Plan making sure that these things don’t occupy prime agricultural land in the rural areas as well.
Now this is all contingent on the Province actually listening to us. We’re actually embedding that because we know the previous act did not listen to municipalities and did not give us deference in any way, shape or form when it came to where wind turbines are sited. We know that municipalities have fought against that in the past.
We also know that there are other renewable energy sources that have no opposition, that are quite popular and are effective.
So, just a quick question to staff whoever might be here, whether it’s Janice Ashworth or Andrea Flowers
or whoever, that what we’re doing here doesn’t change what we’ve said in the past when it comes to wind in the rural area.
The response was provided on behalf of the City by Andrea Flowers, Section Manager, Climate Change and Resiliency:
What we put forward as part of this motion as a broader picture is, if there are sufficient resources, we would look at a Distributed Energy Resource for city-owned facilities and land. We have explicitly said that would include renewable energy generation both wind and solar as we have specified in Energy Evolution. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we are supporting turbines in backyards where it’s not being asked for and it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to end up with that in this motion, but we need to understand what our options are because technology is getting better in low wind areas and the technology is changing and some of those technologies [interference] concerns that we’ve heard from people.
So with a combination of working with zoning and the Distributed Energy Resources we will [unintelligible] work through those files [?].
Mr. Moffatt seemed not to understand that Ms. Flowers’ response was YES, the City is planning wind power. He commented:
I think that’s where I want to make sure as a city we aren’t making those same mistakes that previous governments have made and that we don’t have situations where rural communities feel that they’re left out of the conversation and that the City is just going to come in and do whatever we feel is necessary, from that one perspective on wind.
Because honestly, I don’t get the feedback on any other energy generation technology. It is specifically about wind and I know that my rural colleagues hear the same.
So we just want to make sure that we’re one city, I don’t want to see us pitting communities against one another and that is inherently what happened in the past on this file.
If your next question is, how much land does the City of Ottawa own and is it possible to put wind turbines on it, the answer is unknown. A call to the City of Ottawa today to ask about a directory or map of publicly owned lands got the answer that yes, there is such a map—but the general public can’t see it.
While wind power developers boast—falsely—that wind turbines only need an acre or so of land, the fact is that with the huge foundations, and the associated infrastructure such as access roads, transmission lines, electricity cabling and transformer substations, more land than that is needed.
The other question that arises from Ms Flowers’ comments (who it must be said, grinned when talking about citizen concerns about wind turbines in “backyards”) is her reference to zoning and “new technology.”
The City will be developing new zoning with regard to the siting of grid-scale wind turbines; the new zoning bylaws will be presented for public comment at some point this year.
As to “new technology” which Ms. Flowers says will help with resident concerns, unless there are magic wind turbines in development that do not actually use wind to generate electricity, we’re afraid she is
mistaken. The technology of wind turbines is such that as the blades pass the mast or tower, noise is created; noise is created as well from the equipment in the nacelle.
Current “new technology” in wind turbines is aimed at squeezing power out of wind resources even in low wind areas such as Ottawa and Eastern Ontario—NOT at reducing noise emissions for hapless neighbours of the power plants. The newest turbines were installed at Nation Rise just south of Ottawa. Noise complaints began while the turbines were in their testing phase and in a matter of months after commercial operation began, there were so many complaints that the local public health unit has asked to review the reports.
Ottawa staff spoke a year ago about the need to “get this right.”
So far, there is little in the behaviour of City staff to reassure rural residents that their communities will not be industrialized by the huge noisy wind power generators that city folk seem to think will solve all their problems.
Fact: wind power is intermittent, unreliable and weather dependent, as well as a low density power source (it takes up a lot of land to produce minimal power). As such it will not support the City’s goals of massive electrification, nor help it on its way to the Net Zero goal.
Current regulations inadequate to protect health, safety, Ottawa standing committee told today
Turbines and home inside Nation Rise power project
MEDIA RELEASE PUT DISTANCE BETWEEN WIND TURBINES AND HOMES, COMMUNITY GROUP TELLS CITY OF OTTAWA April 7, 2022, Ottawa—
The only way to prevent or mitigate problems with industrial-scale or grid-scale wind turbines is to put distance between the huge, noise-emitting machines, community group Ottawa Wind Concerns told Ottawa’s Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC) today.
It is well known that the large, 60-storey wind turbines produce noise which can affect sleep and health; the machines can also pose a safety risk if located too close to roads, and a risk to wildlife such as birds and bats.
Ottawa Wind Concerns board member Mike Baggott of North Gower, asked that City Planning staff adopt a 2-kilometre setback between the power generating equipment and homes.
The recommendation is based on a recent statement by community group coalition Wind Concerns Ontario.
There are more than 2,000 wind turbines in Ontario presently, and the provincial government has more that 6,000 formal Incident Reports, documenting complaints about noise, many associated with health impacts.
Ottawa is currently engaged in developing new zoning bylaws following completion of the city’s new Official Plan. Ward 21 Councillor Scott Moffatt, a member of ARAC, said that there would be opportunity for rural residents to engage in the development of new bylaws to protect citizens, should wind power projects be proposed for Ottawa in the future.
Ottawa Wind Concerns 