The race to build a wind farm in Prince Edward County is a long one. So long that it's difficult for a company to know where to begin. "It would be fool-headed to race ahead and get all your permits in place and not have a contract to sell power," said Samit Sharma of Gaia Power Inc. The labyrinth of agencies that must be consulted for the requisite approvals, however, makes a proponent anxious to get underway.

A natural gas plant here. New nuclear reactors there. Massive wind farms in northern Ontario. Surplus hydroelectric power from projects in Manitoba and Labrador. Who says Ontario is facing an electricity shortage? On top of conservation efforts aimed at reducing how much electricity we all consume, the reality is there are plenty of opportunities — some cleaner than others — to generate the power this province needs over the next two decades. Even, it should be noted, with the shutdown of all coal-fired plants. But generation is only part of Ontario’s electricity equation. Under-appreciated in the power supply debate is the crucial role transmission plays in moving electricity around the province. Power generation, like a car, is useless if there are no roads on which to drive, or if the only route into a big city is limited to one lane during rush hour. “Transmission is undervalued; without transmission you can’t do anything,” says engineering consultant Frank Macedo, a 25-year veteran of the electricity sector who once oversaw Hydro One’s provincial transmission assets.

LIVERPOOL — Wind turbines will probably start popping up on Nova Scotia’s South Shore within a couple of years as companies vying for choice locations fine-tune their proposals.

Some local realtors are expecting significant decreases in land values to homes in the area surrounding local wind turbine projects, but the proponents have said they have no indication that will be the case. Across the Municipality of Kincardine, the 120-turbine Enbridge Wind Power Project has been a highly-debated topic, while Suncor Energy’s 38-turbine project has been widely supported in the Ripley area of Huron-Kinloss. Mitch Twolan, Mayor of Huron-Kinloss and broker of Lake Range Realty, said he’s already experienced the pros and cons to real estate which have come along with the turbine proposals. But Twolan believes it will take the completion of the projects to properly determine what widespread impact it will have after that time. “It’s going to be two to five years before we see the real impact,” Twolan said. “At this point, it’s almost too early to know. A lot of people are afraid of the unknown.”

Community support will be required for all the regulatory approvals necessary before the project gets the go-ahead, Cliche said. "We need five green lights:" Hydro-Quebec's; the local municipality; the regional municipality; the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Quebec, because the towers will go on farm land; and the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement. A wind farm is "a project of consensus and if you don't have consensus, you don't have a project," he said. At this point, controversy, not consensus, is the rule as word spreads of the various projects being promoted in the region. Farmers who are involved in the No committees have amassed thick folders replete with media and scientific reports about negative impacts linked to wind farms. Key among their concerns are the loss of farmland, visual and noise pollution and the impact on property values and tourism, farmer Helene Campbell said. Artists, town residents, country land holders as well as former Montrealers who recently moved to the area to retire told The Gazette that they are alarmed at the prospect of wind farms.

A U.S. energy expert says Ontario could reduce its power load by more than 10 per cent and forever wean itself off coal if it recycled waste energy from existing industrial and commercial activities.

A $300-million wind farm planned near Goderich, Ont., has been cancelled three years after the developer, EPCOR Utilities Inc., was selected by the province to build it. Call it death by delay. EPCOR, headquartered in Edmonton, said in a statement late Wednesday that the long wait for provincial and municipal approvals and uncertainty around regulatory matters made it "unable to meet the contract's conditions as a result of circumstances beyond its control."

Niagara Region and Rankin Construction signed a contract Thursday to build the first commercial wind farm in Niagara. The $23-million windmill project will put up five, 98-metre-tall turbines along the Lake Erie shoreline in Wainfleet.

Niagara Region and Rankin Construction signed a contract Thursday to build the first commercial wind farm in Niagara. The $23-million windmill project will put up five, 98-metre-tall turbines along the Lake Erie shoreline in Wainfleet.

"This major regulatory milestone allows us to continue moving forward with our goal of bringing clean power to British Columbians by 2012," said Brian Vaasjo, Capital Power president and CEO.

After a summer of relative quiet on a proposal to build a transmission line between Montana and Alberta, the project is again generating news as it heads toward the backstretch of its final regulatory races. Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. has sold to three wind farm developers its proposed power line's total capacity of 600 megawatts (300 mw in each direction) between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alta., through eastern Teton County. The company, a subsidiary of Tonbridge Power of Toronto, Ont., reported on the Tonbridge Web site that it would have low costs while it yields $28.4 million in revenues the first year it is in operation.

A cancelled wind-power project from last week will not affect Nova Scotia Power Inc.’s newest plan, the utility said yesterday. NSPI wants to hook up another 40,000 homes with renewable energy and is calling for bidders. The company is confident it will meet renewable-energy targets, despite previously missing its own targets and attacking the province’s as being unrealistic. On Friday, a major wind-energy project in Amherst was put on ice, largely because Ottawa withdrew its wind-power incentive program.

A proposed transmission line from the Bruce nuclear power plants to the Milton switching station has been highly criticized in a report prepared for the Saugeen Ojibway Nations. In his report, public utility consultant Whitfield Russell says the proposed project "cannot be justified as a better project than the reasonable alternatives." ...In his report, Mr. Russell maintains that Hydro One has "misstated the need for transmission capability" by including in its analysis significant sources of generation that have not been committed or approved."

An Ashfield-Colborne Wawanosh Twp. resident believes council and the planning department are not doing enough research to address concerns about health issues caused by wind turbines. Ernie Marshall presented to council, at their Oct. 17 meeting, two reports outlining health issues related to wind turbines. He said his greatest concern is the noise level from the turbines which is much higher than the level stated by EPCOR and it is causing him a great deal of distress. “The noise is not so much what you can hear but what you can feel,” he said.

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Twp. residents continue to express their concerns with regards to the proposed setback regulations for wind turbines in the municipality. Council received a letter at their Oct. 2 meeting, signed by several Carlow area residents who stated that they “are in opposition to the proposed bylaw amendment to implement regulatory provisions for large scale wind energy facilities.”

UPPER GULF SHORE - Lisa Betts considers herself an environmentalist, but she's preparing to do battle with wind turbine companies and local governments because of plans to build towering windmills too close to residential areas. "I've been a green person since I was a kid more than 40 years ago. I recycle and compost. I'm pro being green, so it's kind of hard taking on a sacred cow of the move toward green energy," Ms. Betts said in an interview Saturday. "But I feel I have to. What is being proposed as setbacks (the distance the closest turbine can be to a home) for wind turbines by Cumberland County Council just isn't sufficient. "I moved here because of the peace and quiet. What they are proposing will alter that because they will be allowing companies to build way too close to residential areas."

A group of angry Melancthon property owners told councillors last week that they should address problems with phase one of the Melancthon wind project before moving on to phase two.

He said the swooshing, "cyclical humming" sound of the massive turbines disturbed his family's sleep and caused his young children to wake up in the night. A red beacon light atop the turbines flashes all night, he said, creating a "disco" effect. Schaut said he now fears the rural Meaford landscape will soon become similarly overrun with industrial wind turbines.

The removal of the high-voltage power lines ended the community's two-year fight with Maritime Electric and the provincial government. The utility put up the lines to transport electricity for Suez International from its wind farm in West Cape. The electricity went to a substation, and most of it was exported to New England.

The Barbados Light and Power Company is meeting growing resistance to its plan to construct a windfarm at Lamberts in St. Lucy. The residents have raised concerns about environmental risks including noise pollution at a town hall meeting over the weekend. The residents of Josey Hill and areas where the proposed farm is to be developed have unpleasant memories of Barbados’ lone experiment with wind power. This turbine at Berry Hill erected in 1986. Some of the residents say it was extremely noisy and charge that eleven, which the company is planning to build will be deafening. A number of other Barbadians also commented on the proposed development the main point of focus the location of the turbines to homes.