Tag Archives: Ottawa wind concerns

Return of land-use planning for renewable energy means action needed now, Ottawa committee told

04 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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April 4, 2019

The medical report supporting Ontario’s wind turbine noise regulations is now 10 years old–the regulations need to be updated

Ottawa Wind Concerns executive members Jane Wilson and Michael Baggott spoke at the meeting of the Ottawa Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC) today, and alerted the Committee that action is needed following new amendments to regulations on wind turbines by the Ford government.

A wind power project was proposed in 2008 for the North Gower-Richmond area, with potential to spread to Osgoode. The project did not proceed when the Germany-based proponent failed to qualify for the last round of proposals under the Wynne government. It would have exposed hundreds of people to wind power generator noise — that fact was acknowledged at the time by the power developer.

“Today, we know a lot more about wind power,” said Ottawa Wind Concerns Chair Jane Wilson. “We know that many wind turbines in Ontario were sited improperly and we know that many mistakes were made — the former Energy Minister said that in 2017. And, we know there are thousands of records of noise complaints in Ontario, that have not been resolved, and are waiting on enforcement of regulations.”

Now, the new Ontario government is making changes but they require action from Ontario municipalities. Four new amendments to regulations are in response to Ontario municipalities demanding a return of local land-use planning powers, which were stripped from municipalities by the McGuinty government and the Green Energy Act.

“The amendments have not been proclaimed yet,” Wilson said, “but we need to be ready in the event a wind power proposal is made in future.”

One of the proposals is that power developers must balance any environmental impacts against the benefit of their proposed power project. “The problem is,” Wilson told the Committee, “Ontario’s rules on wind turbine noise and setbacks for safety are inadequate and out of date. The supporting document the previous government used is now ten years old, and does not reflect practices in other countries around the world.”

She added that the Ontario regulations on noise do not meet new guidelines published last fall by the World Health Organization.

“You have to remember that wind turbines produce a range of noise emissions— it’s not like barking dogs, or traffic.”

The amended regulations also require power developers to prove their project meets all zoning regulations locally. This is a problem, Wilson said, because under the Green Energy Act, municipalities had no say, so there was no reason for them to have any such zoning or bylaws as would apply to the huge wind power projects.

Ottawa Wind Concerns referred to a comment document prepared by Wind Concerns Ontario, which recommended municipalities ask the Ford government for a transition period in which they could begin the work on bylaws, and to develop new, adequate rules for setbacks between homes and turbines, and new noise limits for wind turbines.

Ottawa has already shown leadership Wilson said, in passing a bylaw asking for “substantive” input to wind turbine projects, and now is the time to take action to protect residents from the industrial-scale wind power projects.

Councillor Scott Moffatt thanked the presenters for the information, and also Wind Concerns Ontario for its work to protect rural communities.

Several North Gower residents attended the meeting.

OttawaWindConcerns@gmail.com

Presentation here: NOTES FOR ARAC presentation-Apr4-2019

Wind Concerns Ontario regulation summary document: Summary of Regulation Changes jan 3

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

25 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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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

 

You’re not listening to us: IESO publishes comments on renewable power bid process

31 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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“Overwhelmingly fraudulent”; “we were ready with a team of lawyers”; “property values are decreased because of forced wind turbine projects” … and more.

Ontario community groups, municipal representatives and individual citizens responded to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) request for feedback on its renewable power bid process.

The IESO published a summary of comments received in its online survey, yesterday.

Ottawa Wind Concerns was among the community groups responding to this survey.

Key issues were the fact that the process was difficult to understand, unfair to individuals and communities, and that so-called “community engagement” was a false promise, given that community support (or lack of it) was just one of the rated criteria in the bid process, not a mandatory requirement.

Municipal governments are forced to determine whether they support a power project with very little information, representatives said. The rated criteria activities to indicate community support were ineffective, said most of the municipal government representative responding: 70 percent said the activities prescribed were “somewhat” or “very” ineffective.

The mandatory meeting was set up in a format that was to leave everyone with the least amount of say as possible. There were large displays set up showing the project. There was no intention for any real interaction with the participants. We had to basically demand a question and answer period. Questions and answers in a public format is the way these mandatory meetings should be set up to ensure that the correct info is actually being presented.
The mandatory community engagement requirements and optional rated criteria community support activities were neither clear nor successful in raising awareness within the Project Community. How can a requirement to consult members of a community (and having owners sign a support form) on an existing line that had already been fully and duly permitted and that represents no new or additional impact for them be considered mandatory and successful in raising awareness or support for the project? The Rated Criteria points associated with obtaining a support resolution from the municipal council gives too much negotiation leverage to the Municipalities. Rated Criteria points should also be allocated following a prorated basis instead of a all or nothing basis, especially the ones associated with abutting landowners support.

Some respondents questioned the municipal support process, saying that councils ignored community wishes and/or had pecuniary interests in the proposed power projects.

I was part of the General Public who attended meetings and proposal meetings. Our elected officials were not responsive to the general public opinion which was 80% plus against the proposal so we had to fight our representatives. The process was very poor and at least 1 of our political persons refused to withdraw from voting and would directly benefit from the projects if approved. I felt like I lived in a 3rd world country.

Other respondents decried the loss of good Ontario farmland for power projects, and the social impact on communities when some landowners took out leases or accepted payments for support of abutting power projects.

Another concern was the communities and neighbours to power projects had no idea the bid was coming until it was put together.

Very simple. Let communities decide whether they want these projects or not. Let neighbors know from the very outset that their communities are being considered. Holding a propaganda session once the project is ready to be submitted is not community involvement.

The IESO document is available here.

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

House and wind turbine at Brinston, just south of Ottawa. Propaganda meetings are not 'community engagement' says an Ontario citizen

House and wind turbine at Brinston, just south of Ottawa. Propaganda meetings are not ‘community engagement’ says an Ontario citizen

 

 

Ottawa Wind Concerns at Agricultural and Rural Affairs today

02 Thursday Apr 2015

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Ottawa Wind Concerns will present an overview of the new Ontario contracting process for wind power at the Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee today.

The group has prepared a presentation that outlines the process for developers, based on the 100-page document from the Independent Electricity System Operator or IESO, and has added recommendations for the City of Ottawa, should a proposal for a wind power project come forward.

“Our rural communities are completely opposed being industrialized for wind power projects, to produce power Ontario doesn’t need,” says chair Jane Wilson. “Almost 1,300 residents of the North Gower area signed a petition in 2013 to say they do not support a wind power project in their community, due to the economic and social costs.”

Ontario is contracting for 300 more megawatts of wind power in 2015, which will cost Ontario $200 million annually.

U.S.-based EDP Renewables has stated it is planning to propose 30-50 turbines just 30 minutes south of Ottawa, in North Dundas.

Ottawa Wind Concerns is a community group and corporate member of Wind Concerns Ontario.

 

Wind power on TVOntario: problems, social costs

27 Friday Mar 2015

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March 27, 2015

TVOntario’s public affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, dealt with the controversy over the implementation of Ontario’s push for power generation from wind this week, with an edition of the show, followed by the debut of new documentary film Big Wind.

Ottawa Wind Concerns’ chairperson (and Wind Concerns Ontario president) Jane Wilson was a guest for the entire Agenda program, which is available online at http://tvo.org/video/211902/wind-power-wind-problems.

The documentary is also online at TVOntario’s website, at http://tvo.org/video/211702/big-wind

There are opportunities to comment at both links.

Energy Minister Chiarelli on CFRA today

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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After “boasting” that projected electricity bill increases will result in $120 more on electricity customers bills a year yesterday in Toronto, Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli is a guest on CFRA’s The Home Page at 1 p.m.

Morning show host Steve Madely disputed Chiarelli’s math on his CFRA show this morning, saying by his calculation, the increase in electricity bills will be at least $140…and that Ontario consumers can ill afford it.

Chiarelli acknowledged that the increases are due to Ontario’s “investment” in “green” energy.

That doesn’t make economic sense, says Ottawa Wind Concerns Chair Jane Wilson. “Wind power which is today less than 4% of Ontario’s power capacity, actually represents 20% of the utility cost,” she says. “And because Ontario has a surplus of power, we are exporting a significant part of that at a loss to the United States, while we are paying wind power developers billions. Yet consumers are being asked to pay more–this is just nuts.”

Ontario opened its new contracting process for large renewable power projects on March 10; it is not clear whether a large wind power generation project will be proposed for the rural Ottawa area. The City passed a resolution in 2013 saying it did not support a wind “farm” in North Gower, and demanded a return of local land use planning powers that were removed by Ontario’s Green Energy Act.

Call in to the radio station at 613-521-8255, and listen at 580AM in Eastern Ontario, or live online at cfra.com

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Prowind hires lobbyist

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Wind Concerns Ontario yesterday posted a list of the lobbyists who had registered with the provincial registry on behalf of wind power developers. Germany-based Prowind, which has an office apparently in Hamilton, Ontario, is among them, with Sussex Strategy Group representing them.

Sussex has a number of Big Wind clients, and is famous for the leaked strategy document in which it recommended that wind power developers align themselves with organizations associated with health care, in order to support the “clean” “green” and environmentally healthy perceptions about wind power. The consultants advised their wind power clients to “confuse” the issue by changing focus from high energy prices to job creation and clean air.

Prowind’s project in Ottawa is currently inactive and the company did not qualify as an applicant to the new Large Renewable Procurement process; however, as we learned listening in on an industry-focused webinar recently, an unqualified applicant can partner up with a company who did qualify (begging the question, what was the point of THAT?).

Prowind is currently trying to raise funding for its project near Woodstock Ontario by a community investment fund.

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NOTE: Ottawa Wind Concerns was active in creating a plebescite via legal petition to Ottawa City Council in 2013, which resulted in a motion of support for the community in its opposition to the wind power project. The community group remains active, with a legal team on retainer.

Legal actions against wind farms continue

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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This is a heavy duty week as Ontario communities fight back against the unwanted incursion of huge wind power generation facilities. As you know, the Green Energy Act removed local land-use planning powers for renewable power projects, so the environmental appeal process and ultimately the courts, along with a noise nuisance bylaw, is the only way communities can act to protect their residents.

(The new procurement process for large-scale renewable power projects still does not allow for a return of municipal planning powers; communities can have a say, as long as it’s not “no” and in fact, the regional energy plans are pre-designed by the province—in other words, if the province decides you’re getting a wind “farm” then you are. But we digress…)

This week:

Manvers/Pontypool: last few days of the appeal of the Sumac Ridge wind power project, part of which is on the Oak Ridges Moraine, a fragile and (formerly) protected environment. The Green Energy Act over-rode the Oak Ridges Moraine Protection Act, along with 20 other pieces of legislation.) The City of Kawartha Lakes is involved.

Plympton-Wyoming: again, the municipality is involved with the appeal of the Suncor Cedar Point wind power generation project. Today, the Environmental Review Tribunal hears a motion for a stay of proceedings, until experts can review the raw data from the Health Canada Wind Turbine Noise and Health study. (No report or article has yet been published from this study; there is only a brief summary and PowerPoint presentation.) The Health Canada study showed that 16.5% of people living within 2 km of a wind turbine were experiencing distress.

Niagara Region: Mothers Against Wind Turbines is a appealing the 77, 3-megawatt turbine Niagara Region wind power project, which will affect over 4,000 homes. Preliminary hearing is tomorrow in Wellandport.

Other appeals have been filed and several judicial reviews are in various stages, as well as private legal actions on property value loss and nuisance. Decisions are expected on the Ostrander Point appeal (lawyer Eric Gillespie), and the Drennan/Dixon appeal (the Constitutional challenge, lawyer Julian Falconer).

Ottawa Wind Concerns has retained a legal firm and is prepared to enact legal actions should another proposal come forward for a wind power project.

Contact us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com Donations welcome at PO Box 3, North Gower K0A 2T0

Developer of North Gower wind farm fails to qualify

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy

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The Ontario Power Authority released its list of Qualified Applicants for Large Renewable power projects today. The deadline for applicants to apply for qualification was one month ago, on September 4th.

The Government of Ontario will now proceed to contract for more wind and solar power, despite the fact Ontario has a surplus of power and has been selling off power to neighbouring jurisdictions throughout October at a loss of millions of ratepayer dollars.

The company that had proposed a wind power project in North Gower, Prowind of Germany (incorporated as Prowind Canada here) is NOT on the list of qualified applicants.

The chair of Ottawa Wind Concerns Jane Wilson says the community is cautiously optimistic: “The citizens of North Gower, Richmond and Kars demonstrated solid opposition to the project via a plebescite last year, which resulted in a supportive motion unanimously passed at Ottawa City Council. We think any other company looking at coming here will get the message that a huge wind power project close to over 1,000 homes and our school is not appropriate. We continue to stand ready to take every means available to fight another proposal.”

Join our email list at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
LRP I RFQ Qualified Applicants List PostedThe LRP I RFQ submission deadline was September 4, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. Seventy Qualification Submissions were received by the deadline. Following two months of review for completeness and eligibility, the OPA has now completed its evaluation of all Qualification Submissions and has determined the final list of Qualified Applicants. These entities would be eligible to submit proposals under any future LRP I RFP.

Those RFQ Applicants that are not listed on the LRP I RFQ Qualified Applicant List are reminded that they would not be eligible to submit a proposal under any future LRP I RFP but may qualify to participate in any future round of LRP procurement.

More information and the LRP I RFQ Qualified Applicant List are available on the LRP Website.

Next Steps in the LRP Process

The OPA is working to finalize the draft versions of the LRP I RFP and LRP I Contract and anticipates they will be posted in November. Once the documents have been posted, municipalities, communities, stakeholders and other interested parties will be invited to review them and provide feedback. A webinar will also be scheduled to discuss the draft documents – details on the timing of the webinar will be posted with the draft documents.

Interested parties should subscribe to the LRP subscriber list to ensure they are kept aware of any updates relating to the LRP.

Ontario Power Authority

Wind farm still a concern in Ottawa

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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People attending a community meeting in North Gower last evening expressed continuing concern about the wind power project that was proposed in 2008 for North Gower-Richmond. The project application has been suspended pending a new application under the Request for Proposal process, which will open in a few weeks.

According to documents obtained by Ottawa Wind Concerns via the Freedom of Information process (thanks to donations from the community) the wind power developer Prowind, was informed of the application suspension in June, 2013, but advised to keep in touch with their contact at the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) about the new opportunity to apply. Prowind maintains a listing for the project on its website.

At that time, Prowind’s documents were “deemed complete” by the OPA, and the company was waiting for a connection to the grid, before the approval process could continue.

Prowind advised The Ottawa Citizen in August 2013, that the company would review the terms of the new process, and re-apply, if appropriate.

In October of 2013, a legal petition bearing more than 1,200 signatures from area residents was presented to the City of Ottawa; council passed a motion that recognized the petition and further, asked the province for a return of local land-use planning powers.

Statements to the effect that the project is now dead are not correct; the OPA has not yet defined its “community engagement” requirement under the new process.

Meanwhile, the OPA has designated Eastern Ontario as a “green light” area for wind power development.

It is expected that the wind power project will be an issue in the upcoming municipal election; incumbent councillor Scott Moffatt wrote a report on the project in last week’s Manotick Messenger, and candidate Dan Scharf has stated he is opposed to it.

The South Branch project, also developed by Prowind and sold to US-based EDP Renewables, has been operating south of Ottawa since March; the turbines are the first 3-megawatt power generators in Ontario.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com