Tag Archives: Scott Moffatt

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 

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Ottawa decision of interest to all Ontario

24 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Here from the Manotick Messenger, is an excerpt from Ward 21 Councillor Scott Moffatt‘s account of the North Gower-Richmond Not A Willing Host petition effort and inclusion in a City of Ottawa motion–which passed unanimously at council.

Other municipalities have been demanding a return of local land use planning powers–in fact, since before the Green Energy Act–but Ottawa, as the second largest city in the province, is the most populous municipality to do so.

The Not A Willing Host communities now number 75: to see the list and map, go to www.ontario-unwilling-hosts.org

2013 is turning out to be a year where issues under provincial jurisdiction are coming up time and time again.These issues give the City of Ottawa a minimal role in the final approval, whether it is the approval of a landfill expansion on Carp Road, or the proposal of expanding gaming within City limits. One of these issues, renewable energy projects, is not new to our area and stems from the…Green Energy Act, which gives municipalities no role in the approval of solar projects or wind power projects.

Nowhere in Ottawa is this issue more prevalent than in North Gower. In 2008, a wind developer came forward with an application for ten industrial wind turbines to be installed between North Gower and Richmond. It is important to note that this project has never been approved and there has not been an opportunity for them to apply since 2010*, but with a new application process being developed and the continuing interest of this wind developer, the potential does still remain.

[*Editor’s note: this is not quite accurate. At the time the province suspended applications for its Feed In Tariff subsidy program, Prowind’s North Gower project, Marlborough Wind Farm, was already on the list of applicants and was awaiting an economic connection test. Just two weeks ago, Prowind sent an email to Ottawa Wind Concerns to say it will be reviewing the requirements in the new application process, and would likely re-apply.]

The challenge for municipalities for these applications is that they do not have the ability to weigh in on the topic, conduct a meaningful consultation process or make any substantive recommendations on applications. This has led to over 70 municipalities across Ontario declaring them as Not A Willing Host to a wind power project. Residents of North Gower and the surrounding area recently came together and submitted a petition to the City of Ottawa that included 1,228 names declaring North Gower as Not A Willing Host.

… This led to the unanimous approval of a motion I put forward at Council last week that asks the Province of Ontario to make the necessary legislation and/or regulatory changes to provide municipalities with a substantive and meaningful role in siting wind power projects. City Council, in a 24-0 vote, sent a strong message to the Province that we should have a real voice in approving these projects.

This is a motion not just for North Gower or Ottawa, but for every municipality in Ontario.

Energy Minister Chiarelli, in testifying before the committee looking at the gas plant cancellations, said last week that it will be “virtually impossible” for a wind power proponent to receive approval without “significant” involvement or support from a municipality. Until we see the new process, we don’t know exactly what that means, but can it be the province really has been “listening” to the municipalities? MPP Lisa Thompson told the Minister in the same hearing session, “You better start listening to the 75 municipalities–you know what I mean.”

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

City wants say on windmills:Ottawa Citizen

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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From today’s Ottawa Citizen, an account of yesterday’s vote at Council on Councillor Scott Moffatt’s motion, acknowledging the 1200+ signatures on the petition from North Gower, and telling the province the City wants a stronger role indecisions about siting wind power generation projects.

“With more than 1,200 signatures, the petition is a strong message that politicians say is worth listening to,” says the Citizen.

Note also comments from former Green Party candidate now Ottawa Councillor David Chernushenko: “I’ve always felt people need to have a say…legislation that prevents them…is not healthy in any way.”

City wants a say in where windmills will be located

By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN November 13, 2013
City wants a say in where windmills will be located

Communities need to be consulted about windmill projects near them, city council says.

Photograph by: Tyler Brownbridge , Windsor Star

OTTAWA — City council is urging the Ontario government to give municipalities more say in choosing locations for proposed windmill projects in their communities.

Coun. Scott Moffat drafted the motion that council supported on Wednesday asking for legislative changes that would guarantee local residents have more influence about projects pegged for their neighbourhoods.

The province has already promised to add stringent public consultation requirements to its Feed-in Tariff program, which encourages the development of renewable energy with government funding. Anyone looking to build a project would have to have “significant municipal engagement,” when responding to request for proposals (RFPs), said provincial Energy Minster Bob Chiarelli, just a couple hours before the council meeting.

“The bottom line is it will be very difficult for an energy proponent to be successful in the type of RFP that’s being created without a significant municipal engagement,” he said.

His government has faced public opposition from around Ontario for such projects.

More than 70 communities have joined a coalition of “unwilling hosts” for wind projects, declaring they do not want such developments. The Ottawa motion does not put the city in this same group, but instead asks the government to ensure residents have a say in choosing the location for such projects.

Moffat introduced his motion at council a day after receiving a petition from residents of North Gower, a community in his Rideau-Goulbourn ward, who oppose the large-scale wind-power project.

With more than 1,200 signatures, the petition is a strong message that politicians say is worth listening to.

“What you need is the ability for communities to be engaged in the process, and right now that’s not really happening,” Moffat said. “Mr. Chiarelli seemed to indicate that there would be a process going forward that would allow for community engagement and put it upon the wind developer to have community buy-in.”

Chiarelli said the substance of Moffat’s resolution reflects what the province has been doing over the past few months. Earlier this year the Ontario government removed larger projects from the Feed-in Tariff program and added the RFP process, but details about exactly is required for public consultation have yet to be identified.

Coun. David Chernushenko, a strong wind-energy proponent, supported Moffat’s motion.

“This offers the opportunity now for people to make a real decision about what’s going to affect them,” he told his council colleagues. “As much as I am troubled by the anti-wind hyperbole, I’ve always felt that people need to have a say and legislation that prevents them from having that say is not healthy in any way.”

Chiarelli also confirmed communities will not be able to outright reject projects.

“There is no veto. We’ve said that very, very clearly,” he said. “There is no veto because there are circumstances in the energy planning of Ontario where a veto might be totally unadvisable, but the general thrust is that there must be an engagement with the local municipality.”

dspalding@ottawacitizen.com

Motion passes at Council; energy minister repeats: no veto

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

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

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In a surprise move by Ottawa City Council today, Council voted to hear the actual Motion presented by Ward 21 Councillor Scott Moffatt in his required Notice of Motion … and passed it. The motion made note of the petition filed with the City on behalf of North Gower residents, declaring the community Not A Willing Host to a proposed 20-megawatt wind power project, and then asked the province for a substantive role in siting power projects.

Energy Minister (and former Ottawa Mayor) Bob Chiarelli, who was at Ottawa City Hall to talk pipeline, told The Ottawa Sun that Ottawa could not unilaterally veto a wind power project. Both Minister Chiarelli and Premier Wynne have been saying for weeks that the province will give municipalities more “say” in siting power projects.

One thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight area residents signed the petition in a two-week petition drive; over 800 Ottawa area residents also participated in an online poll with 94.56% saying “No” to the Ottawa area wind power project.

 

Delivered!!!

12 Tuesday Nov 2013

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

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Our petition to the City of Ottawa, asking that North Gower be declared Not A Willing Host to a proposed wind power generation project, was delivered to the Clerk’s Office at the City of Ottawa at precisely 11 .am. today. The petition carried 1,228 signatures, which represents a clear majority of the voting population of the North Gower area.

We also carried out an online poll open to all residents of Ottawa; the results were that of 866 people responding, 94.56% said they do NOT support the wind power project.

Why are we doing this? Because the application process for large-scale power projects will be announced soon, and we expect that community support will be a key requirement for proponents of power projects. By expressing our deep concerns about the impact of this power project on our community with this petition, the City of Ottawa gets the message as to the level of support (none!) in the community that would actually have to live with it.

What’s next? Councillor Scott Moffatt intends to put forward a Notice of Motion at tomorrow’s Council meeting, for a motion to be heard November 27th, asking the province to give municipalities a greater/substantive role in determining the location for such power plants; the North Gower Not A Willing Host clause is included in the preamble to the motion. (The motion is not, however, a Not A Willing Host motion for the City of Ottawa.)

What you can do now: talk about this with your friends, family and co-workers. Ask them to vote FOR the motion that asks for a return of local land use planning powers, that were removed by the Green Energy Act. If people don’t know who their councillor is, send them to ottawa.ca for the list.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Donations needed to help with this fight: PO Box 3, North Gower ON  K0A 2T0