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Tag Archives: wind mills

More unwanted turbines for Eastern Ontario?

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Eastern Ontario wind farms, Farmers Forum, leasing land for wind turbines, wind mills

Wind turbine and home, Brinston, Ontario. Photo by Ray Pilon.

Wind turbine and home, Brinston, Ontario, south of Ottawa. Photo by Ray Pilon.

Unwilling host status no guarantee against provincial green energy push

Farmers Forum, December 2015

By Tom Collins
NORTH FRONTENAC — The province will announce new wind turbine projects by the end of the year — as many as 100 turbines or more —  but seven out of eight Eastern Ontario municipalities that could be impacted by those submissions voted against the projects.

The lone wolf was Addington Highlands Township, which approved two turbine projects with a combined 370 MW capacity in July.

Wind turbine developers submitted 27 wind turbine projects by the Sept. 1 deadline. Those proposals equal 2,246.8 megawatts (MW), but the province will approve only 300 MW this year, translating to about 100 large turbines.

North Frontenac mayor Ron Higgins is 80 per cent confident there won’t be turbines in his township as it has declared itself “an unwilling host” but says the province can ignore that designation. Ninety-one of 444 Ontario municipalities have declared themselves unwilling hosts to wind turbines.

Higgins hopes the province will choose to put turbines where they are wanted. The province says wind developers that came to an agreement with a municipality have top priority for approval.
North Stormont Township councillor and Avonmore dairy farmer Jim Wert said there is no upside to turbines for his municipality, but has no confidence that North Stormont will not be getting wind energy.

“I think the track record of this decision-making process speaks for itself,” he said. “If you take a look at the number of municipalities that have had unwilling host status in the past and the number of them that now have windmills, I think that speaks volumes.”

According to numbers compiled by the municipality last year, 89 per cent of wind turbines are operating in municipalities that don’t want them as 25 of 28 municipalities that have turbines declared themselves unwilling hosts.

Wind turbines are a divisive issue for farmers, said Wert. With turbines bringing in around $30,000 a year per turbine, farmers who have the option of having wind turbines are in favour of them, while neighbours who can’t have turbines may be upset about the potential impact on property values.

South Dundas Coun. Bill Ewing said his municipality is against turbines unless the province can justify a need for it. He didn’t believe municipalities would be successful in stopping turbines if they all joined forces.

“That would be like trying to stop the snow from falling,” he said. “They missed the boat when the province first said, ‘you shall.’ (Municipalities) should have all got together and said ‘whoa, stop this.’ It became a dictatorship then.”

The successful applicants are expected to be announced later this month. The seven applications for Eastern and East-Central Ontario include:

  • 35 to 100 turbines for a 200-megawatt project in Addington Highlands Township.
  • 40 to 60 turbines for a 170-megawatt project in Addington Highlands Township.
  • 35 to 50 turbines for a 150-megawatt project in the Nation Municipality, Russell Township, North Stormont Township, and Alfred and Plantagenet Township.
  • 29 to 50 turbines for a 100-megawatt project in North Stormont Municipality.
  • 50 turbines for a 100-megawatt project in North Frontenac Township.
  • 40 turbines for a 75-megawatt project in South Dundas Municipality.
  • 15 turbines for a 40-megawatt project in Nation Municipality and Champlain Township.

On that list, the Nation, North Stormont, North Frontenac and South Dundas have declared themselves as unwilling hosts. Russell Township has approved a powerline through part of its township, but not wind turbines. Champlain Township voted in favour of allowing a substation in its township, but not turbines. Alfred and Plantagenet Township wouldn’t have turbines as part of the project, and they have not made a decision on whether to support wind turbines. Alfred and Plantagenet Township originally approved the project on July 20, but rescinded its decision on Aug. 12 once they discovered the Nation — which would have the turbines — was against it.

According to the Canadian Wind Energy Association, there were 76 Ontario wind developments running as of September, with a total of 2,150 turbines and 4,042 MW capacity.

There are three operating wind turbine projects in Eastern Ontario — 86 turbines at Wolfe Island, 10 at Brinston south of Winchester and five at Loyalist Township west of Kingston.

The province has approved eight other Eastern Ontario projects that are not yet up and running.

 

OTTAWA WIND CONCERNS EDITOR’S NOTE: There are 8 turbines at Brinston, not 10. Of the eight projects approved for Eastern Ontario, all are under appeal.

Please see today’s news story on the Auditor General’s report on the surplus of power in Ontario, and how much wind power has cost the citizens of Ontario.

Ontario is rejecting wind power: Wind Concerns Ontario to Wynne government

11 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

community opposition wind farms, Feed In Tariff, IESO, Kathleen Wynne, Large Renewables Procurement, Nation municipality, Not a Willing host, Town of Essex, Wind Concerns Ontario, wind farm, wind mills, wind turbines

NEWS RELEASE

Ontario Communities Reject Wind Power Proposals               

                                                                                                                                                <!OTTAWA, Aug. 11, 2015 /CNW/ – More than 90 communities have now declared themselves to be unwilling hosts to huge power generation projects using wind turbines.

The municipality of Nation, east of Ottawa, yesterday reversed an earlier statement of support, and the Town of Essex declared it wants no more wind turbines.

“The Premier promised not to force power projects on communities,” says Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson. “But we still can’t say ‘no.’ Making the unwilling host declaration is a powerful statement to this government.”

Ontario citizens are increasingly aware that large-scale wind power brings potential environmental damage, harms wildlife, is linked to health impacts due to the noise and infrasound, and is causing electricity bills to climb beyond affordability.

Despite a surplus power supply and the high cost of renewables, Ontario is contracting for more wind power this year. “The people of Ontario are saying ‘We’ve had enough,'” says Wilson. “The current procurement program should be abandoned immediately.”

www.windconcernsontario.ca

SOURCE Wind Concerns Ontario

South Dundas wind farm meeting draws mixed reaction

06 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Eastern Ontario wind farm, EDP Renewables, Jim McDonell MPP, South Dundas, wind farm, wind mills, wind turbines, Yvonne Delegarde

Cornwall News Watch, August 6, 2015

South Dundas wind farm meeting brings large crowd, mixed views

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Editor in News, South Dundas // 2 Comments

Wind turbines of the EDP Renewables’ South Branch Wind Farm, east of County Road 16, turn in a summer breeze on Aug. 5, 2015. The company is proposing another farm east of here that could cover approximately 10,000 acres. (Cornwall Newswatch/Bill Kingston)

DIXONS CORNERS – A big crowd had mixed feelings over a proposed second installment of a wind farm in South Dundas.

Roughly 70 people were at the Matilda Hall on County Road 16 Wednesday night to see various charts and talk with representatives about the South Branch Wind Farm II project as part of a three-hour open house.

The 75 megawatt wind farm would be nearly three times the size in area than the existing South Branch Wind Farm (it would be roughly 10,000 acres) and would have 20-30 turbines to the east of the existing wind farm.

The now-operating South Branch Wind Farm is 30 megawatts and has 10 turbines.

The Spain-based company, EDP Renewables, is among 21 qualified companies in Ontario to put together competitive bids for wind farms and are holding these open houses as part of their requirements to submit a bid.

While Morrisburg residents Dick and Doreen Liberty are generally not supportive of wind energy, they felt EDP Renewables put a good case together.

Uncertainties about health

“I think that there’s probably a reason to have wind but I’m still, like everyone else, somewhat skeptical about the fact that there’s some uncertainties. For example, the cows, is this affecting them? Still born calves, milk production and so on and (health effects) in humans as well,” Dick Liberty told Cornwall Newswatch.

Doreen Liberty said they came to “get educated” because it’s hard to make an informed opinion without the information.

“By looking at some of the charts I would say the province has a pretty good handle on what they’re doing and they have to jump through several hoops to get to the final points,” Dick Liberty said. “I’m somewhat impressed.”

EDP Renewables has to submit its proposal by Sept. 1 and its hoping to get council support by resolution Tuesday night, which would give it a competitive advantage.

With the exception of Coun. Archie Mellan, the entire council also showed up at the open house. MPP Jim McDonell was there as well.

South Dundas councillors and staff, spokesmen from EDP Renewables and local residents chat about the proposed South Branch Wind Farm II project during an open house Aug. 5, 2015 at Matilda Hall in Dixons Corners. (Cornwall Newswatch/Bill Kingston)

“I’m not surprised at what I’m hearing,” South Dundas Mayor Evonne Delegarde said after mingling with constituents. “The people who are involved or potentially involved in the project are supportive and the people who are not, are not supportive,” she said. The mayor said the biggest concerns she heard were about turbine noise, setbacks and the coverage area.

“Your head and your heart have to come into play on this one,” Mayor Delegarde stated when asked about balancing the concerns of constituents before Tuesday’s vote. “You know all the people…I have friends on both sides. I’ve received (dozens) of emails from both sides,” she said.

Bill Lortie moved into a home on Chess Road, a couple kilometers outside the proposed area for the wind turbines, about a year ago.

Larger than we thought

“The scope of it is larger than what we expected. The size of the turbines are larger, the number of turbines is greater that what’s currently in the ground there. It’s closer to our residence than we expected,” Lortie said.

Lortie seemed somewhat relieved that it wouldn’t have a direct impact on their home.

“Generally, we were impressed with the presentation. We’ll just have to take a ‘wait and see’ approach to where things go,” he said. “The bottom line is they’re an energy company. They’re in to make a profit, obviously. It’s a bit of a concern if these things start spreading all over,” Lortie said.

“It’s green energy as opposed to gas and oil and coal. Obviously it’s the direction in which we’re all heading and one of these days there will be wind farms all over the place and probably people won’t think twice about it,” he said. “It’s new now and people are rebelling, especially (over) the sound impacts and possible other environmental impacts.”

Another public meeting is happening in Finch Thursday from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Finch Community Arena at 4 John Street for EDP’s 100 megawatt Nation Rise Wind Farm.

Photos show wind farm devastation of Algoma

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Algoma Region, Bow Lake, Bow Lake wind farm, environmental damage wind farms, Lake Superior, Ontario, Ontario scenery, Ontario wildnerness, wind farm, wind mills, wind turbines

Wind Concerns Ontario, July 30, 2015

Toronto photographer documents wind farm destruction in Ontario’s North

Wind is green, wind is good: photo shows blasting for access roads and turbine foundations in Algoma Highlands Photo: Gord Benner
Wind is green, wind is good: photo shows blasting for access roads and turbine foundations in Algoma Highlands Photo: Gord Benner

Toronto area resident and photographer Gord Benner took a circle tour of Lake Superior this summer and was astonished to see the damage being done by wind “farm” construction in Ontario’s formerly pristine North, especially the iconic Algoma region which was so often the subject of paintings done by the Group of Seven. The Algoma region attracts visitors from around the world.

Today, Benner says, they will see roads and transmission lines, and turbines to generate power where before there was Nature.

Benner writes:

“We started the Lake Superior Circle Tour at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and proceeded clockwise through Wisconsin and Minnesota. Didn’t see any wind turbines until after we entered Ontario. The IWTs [industrial wind turbines] installed near Dorion were not visible from the highway, but sure enough, there they were along the most scenic section of the Trans Canada Highway 17, from Lake Superior Provincial Park south to Sault Ste. Marie. Cottages and camps that we visited at Bow, Negick and Trim Lakes were surrounded by these huge machines.

“Sadly, nature, tourism and Group of Seven landscapes are taking a real beating.”

With woodlands cut away, and hilltops blasted flat, the damage caused by wind “farm” construction will be irreversible.

windconcerns@gmail.com

Huge turbines dwarf the landscape; here, a truck travels over a new road built for the power project in Algoma
Huge turbines dwarf the landscape; here, a truck travels over a new road built for the power project in Algoma

 

Recent Posts

  • Pro-wind court decision shocks North Stormont communities
  • North Stormont families await wind turbine court decision
  • The visible and invisible costs of wind power
  • Wind turbine noise complaints continue
  • Nation Rise wind power project in court next month

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