Industrial Wind Turbine Companies Soliciting Township Property Owners Again

Wind Turbines at the Ganaraska project in Orono

Emboldened by success in Manvers township and encouraged by the provincial decision in March to procure more green energy, industrial wind companies are back in the area, approaching property owners along Carmel and Zion lines and in South Monaghan, seeking lease agreements to develop more euphemistically named wind “farms” in our area. The fact that Cavan Monaghan has declared itself an unwilling host to Industrial Wind Turbines is not a deterrent to this persistent bunch, and landowners in our Township continue to be targeted for new wind turbine development.

The Green Energy Act over rides all environmental legislation and local building regulations, with the result that like all municipal governments, our Township has no say where and how industrial wind turbines can be sited in our Municipality.  These units are not windmills; they are steel towers that measure from the base to the top 145.2 metres (476 ft) and weigh 66 tons. The blade diameter is 95.2 metres (303 ft) from the end of one blade to another. As one resident put it, we require township permission to build an 8 foot garden shed, but the township is powerless to influence the development of a 66 ton wind turbine built by a wind energy producer.

The problems associated with siting Industrial Wind Turbines in residential/agricultural neighborhoods are well known. Property values are adversely affected by proximity to Industrial Wind Turbines, and homes in near wind projects become difficult to sell. Some residents living near industrial wind turbines have experienced serious health effects such as sleep disturbance, headaches, vertigo and ear problems due to both audible and inaudible (infrasound) noise and the strobe light flicker effect. While these symptoms are not universal, it is impossible to predict who will be affected.

There is no economic justification for these new “green” energy sources. Ontario currently enjoys a surplus of power and does not need the electricity produced by wind turbines. According to Tom Adams, an energy consultant in Toronto, over half of all electricity sold in the market last year went for less than 2 cents per kilowatt hour. The new reduced rate at which the Ontario Government will purchase this new green energy that was established in March will be 8.6 cents for wind and 15.7 cents for solar. This year the province has been dumping our excess power to New York and Michigan for an average of 1.2 cents/kWh. Our net exports of power are on the rise, and in 2014 represented 10% of all Ontario usage.

Sometimes it is not even possible to dump excess energy to neighbouring jurisdictions at a loss, because the grid is full. In these situations, energy producers aren’t just paid for energy they actually generate, they may also be paid for “deemed generation”. The timing of green energy generation is difficult to control because it is determined by the weather, so under the notion of deemed generation, producers are paid for energy they may have produced when the grid was already full of power and could not receive any more. This production is described as “curtailed” because the grid was oversupplied. The 2015 Auditor General’s report noted that this activity had cost Ontario consumers $339 million from 2009 to 2014. Curtailment figures for 2015 are not yet available but are expected to be higher due to the rise in the number of green energy projects.

By exporting power at discount prices while charging premium prices in their home market, the Ontario government is forcing businesses and consumers to subsidize businesses south of the border.

Surely the tide will turn, and Ontario will eventually have to back away from these policies. These tall, concrete structures will remain scattered across the Ontario landscape, testaments to a flawed policy that sought environmentally friendly power while compromising prime agricultural land, natural heritage systems and delicate ground water and aquifers. KG

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