Investors are deserting a wind power sector that until now had benefited from twin climate and energy concerns, as a debt squeeze forces developers to rethink projects. The sector has enjoyed explosive growth, at more than 30 per cent per year during the past five years, partly on aggressively priced project finance debt. Now that debt is more expensive, if available at all, harming the economics of wind farm financing.

Opponents to wind farms in Ontario, at the best of times a local thorn in the side of wind-energy developers, have suddenly realized the benefit of getting organized. Earlier this week a new anti-wind group called Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of 22 small rural groups each fighting their own community battles, announced its creation as a "strong, unified voice of opposition" to provincial plans that would see thousands of industrial wind turbines "tearing apart the very fabric of rural Ontario."

The proposed site of a wind farm off the Scarborough Bluffs in Lake Ontario is the only place in the GTA where wind power might be feasible, Toronto Hydro said yesterday. "Within the City of Toronto borders, it is pretty much the only option," said Joan McLean, spokesperson for the project. "The reality is that the construction of offshore wind turbines is not financially feasible (in) over 20 meters of water depth," which excludes much of the GTA's shoreline.

Summerside city council has decided to wait a month before voting on a wind-energy farm planned for the western P.E.I. city. Council was set Monday night to make the changes needed to rezone a part of the city for turbines, but people living near the proposed wind farm were able to temporarily push back plans. Some of the about 40 residents at the meeting were clearly angry about the proposal.

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."

Canada's booming wind energy sector is becoming a victim of its own success, says a spokesman for the Canadian Wind Energy Association. A global surge in wind energy development is making it difficult for proponents to secure equipment for new projects, and waiting times for turbine blades and other components are increasing. "Right now there is a shortage of turbines internationally," David Huggill, western Canada policy manager for the Canadian Wind Energy Association, said in a recent interview.

Niagara's first large-scale wind generating project could be in peril because of a new regional policy covering wind energy. ...That's because politicians had just approved the new policy that, among other things, in most cases will require power transmission lines on windfarm properties to be buried rather than to go on poles.

In the works for three years, a high-voltage transmission line connecting Montana's electric grid to Alberta's through eastern Teton County is on the last leg of a footrace slowed by intense scrutiny from landowners in the proposed right of way and from the regulatory agencies required to vet the project. The final environmental impact statement for the Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. 230-kilovolt power line was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 3. ... The power line would make possible wind energy development totaling 600 megawatts, 300 mw in each direction, from Great Falls to Lethbridge, Alta.

The controversy over plans to build a series of wind turbine operations at sites across the region is set to brew up in the next few days. Madawaska Valley councillors just returned last Friday "from a pretty substantive tour" of wind turbine sites in southwestern Ontario, Mayor John Hildebrandt told Monday night's regular township council meeting. A company named SkyPower has proposed to build six of the giant wind turbines at sites in the hills north of Wilno.

A controversial wind turbine 65 metres high near the peak of Grouse Mountain that would be visible for miles took one step closer to reality last night. A passionate debate on the pros and cons of the big windmill ended with North Vancouver District council voting 4-3 to issue a permit to Grouse Mountain Resorts to build the turbine. A spokesman for the resort noted time was running out in the construction window to have the turbine up and running in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, to demonstrate the green-energy initiative.

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.

On Monday night, Genevieve Jones of the group Save Our Skylines (SOS) attended the Madawaska Valley council meeting with a list of questions submitted to SOS. Council has indicated it planned to visit a wind farm in the near future and Jones asked that members consider her questions while on the excursion. "We're concerned that wind companies are not giving full side of the story," Jones said. One question dealt with long-term effects of the wind farms on property values, health, tourism and the environment.

Gengrowth cleared its final logistical hurdle last night for four wind turbine projects in Chatham-Kent. Although municipal council approved the Toronto company's proposal in April, each project had to have the 'H', or holding, symbol removed. This required the submission of a site plan agreement, as well as plans for construction, operation, emergency response and decommission.

Opposition is growing to a proposed windmill farm about two kilometres off the Scarborough Bluffs from residents worried it would tarnish their picturesque Guildwood Village neighbourhood. Residents were informed last month that Toronto Hydro had submitted an application to the Ministry of Natural Resources to install an anemometer platform off the Guildwood shoreline to test the location's wind resources. If approved, the platform would be set up for two years to determine whether the area could sustain a windmill farm of 60 turbines in Lake Ontario.

The Calgary-based company building a $410-million wind plant on Wolfe Island has issued a cease-and-desist letter to a citizen it claims is spreading "false and defamatory statements." Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. sent the letter in connection with a statement made by Wolfe Island resident Chris Brown, an outspoken critic of some aspects of the project. Brown, a local musician, is one of a handful of citizens who sit on a community liaison committee Canadian Hydro set up last year to answer local concerns about the project. Brown regards the letter as an attempt to gag critics of the project.

A wind energy company could get the go ahead to proceed with four wind projects at Monday's Chatham-Kent planning meeting. Administration is recommending zoning bylaw amendments be approved for the projects owned by Gengrowth. ...According to report, the economic benefits of these projects include $96 million in developer investment, $1.8 million in local construction materials, $200,000 in landowner compensation at $10,000 per turbine, and $96,000 in additional property taxes to the municipality.

The president of EarthFirst Canada Inc., Linda Chambers, confirmed the company is reviewing its three operations, two projects in British Columbia and the proposed 45-megawatt Nuttby Mountain wind energy project in Colchester County. The "strategic review" was ordered by the company's board of directors in late August after it was revealed in July that its Dokie 1 wind energy project in B.C. incurred cost overruns of $35 million, and revised wind energy estimates meant that increased project financing would be required.

Several sizable new wind farms are in the works for various locations across P.E.I., says the province's Environment minister. Four to six private companies are currently looking to build wind farms on the north, south, east and western points of P.E.I. This expansion is being encouraged by the province. Further wind energy development is something the government identified as a goal in its throne speech last April. "We're going to expand wind energy," Environment Minister George Webster told The Guardian. "The speech from the throne said we were going to try to hit 500 megawatts over the next five years. It's not a huge amount but it is a significant increase."

Several multi-million dollar projects, most of them dealing with energy production and distribution, are under way or are planned for Atlantic Canada, but they face some formidable financial challenges, the president of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) said yesterday. APEC releases a major projects inventory every year to highlight the most significant ventures in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. This year's inventory lists all projects worth $10 million or more. There are 425 of these projects worth a projected $84 billion.

A variety of opinions blew through the air at a public forum here Thursday to discuss one of six wind turbine projects proposed for Prince Edward County. Gilead Power Corp. unveiled more details of its plans to erect up to 12 turbines in an area west of Ostrander Point Road. While some scanning the visuals on display at Crystal Palace said the only thing that seems green about the project is the money the company stands to gain, others came to learn more about a growing industry they believe can benefit the environment.