Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek believes council is satisfied with the Environmental Screening Report (ESR) for the Kingsbridge II Wind Power Project. About 15 township residents and 15 representatives from EPCOR, including Paul McMillan, senior vice president of Ontario, and Michael Smith, manager of policy and programs environment, as well as Stantec Consulting Ltd., filled the council chambers on Dec. 19 to hear the review of the ESR.

His neighbours, however, testified at the OMB hearings that they felt the turbine would be invasive and could be dangerous if the tall pole with a turbine on top fell over. Even though the turbine has been designed specifically for residential areas, the OMB said in its June ruling that it supported Findlay's neighbour's concerns.

Coun. Fin Armsworthy is hopeful renewable energy will signal the winds of change for this seaside community. For years, he has expressed concern that companies have been discouraged from setting up here because of high commercial rates, which are currently $4 per $100 of assessed value. However, Canso is one of six municipalities across the province that owns its own electric utility, and the town has agreed to be a hosting community for turbines to be built by Barrington Wind Energy Ltd. On Sunday, Mr. Armsworthy said new rules that allow municipal utilities to buy directly from renewable energy producers, along with the fiscal benefits of having Barrington in the community, could be a turning point for Canso.

The opening phase of Brookfield Power Corp.'s ambitious multi-million-dollar commercial wind farm project, immediately northwest of Sault Ste. Marie, is plugged into the grid. Six of 66 units in the eventual 126-unit development went operational Monday, said Jim Deluzio, general manager for Ontario Wind Operations with Brookfield Power.

The company behind a $275-million wind farm wants to start work in the spring, although the plans appear to be bogged down in bureaucracy. Canadian Hydro, a Calgary-based company, already operates a 45-turbine facility in Melancthon Township. The company is seeking approvals for 88 more turbines in the second phase of the wind project in Shelburne, Ont. The project is facing a great deal of opposition and will require hundreds of approvals — from the federal government to the township.

St. Lawrence Mayor Wayde Rowsell has announced his town council has reached a 20-year tax agreement with NeWind Group Inc. The deal, expected to generate tax revenues in excess of $2 million for the community over the life of the contract, was reached Jan. 19 after a week of negotiations between the two parties. NeWind was awarded a contract by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro in November to operate a commercial wind farm near the town, which will produce 27 megawatts (MW) of power to the island. Mayor Rowsell indicated the town approached the negotiations with the philosophy a good deal would be one mutually beneficial to both the company and the community, an objective he felt was accomplished. “We’re quite pleased with what we negotiated with the company.”

Sixty-six football-field-size wind towers were set into commercial motion Sept. 21 and a further 60 three-bladed towers, standing 117 metres (383 feet), from base to furthest blade sweep, are about a month away from commercial contribution to the provincial energy grid.

I wish I could write this story as a travel brochure for this gorgeous North American gem, but if the proposed prop-style wind farm is built here, right in the midst of migratory flyways and breeding grounds, there will be no reason to bring your birding glasses. Or your crab traps. ...Despite industry propaganda, bird mortality from such farms is alarmingly high, and worse, due to the placement of the farms, many of the casualties are endangered or protected species like Golden eagles.

A new CIBC World Markets report supports what the Power Workers' Union (PWU) has been saying to the provincial government and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) for years: the closure of Ontario's coal plants will lead to higher electricity prices for consumers and businesses. Since making the 2003 election campaign promise to close the coal plants, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and the OPA have continued to raise concerns about the significant risks to electricity reliability and price. Now another independent review has reached the same conclusion. "Successive IESO and OPA documents and recent speeches show these risks have not gone away but are actually worse," says Don MacKinnon, President of the PWU. Key risks include: uncertainties about load growth forecasts and what realistic contributions can be expected from conservation and demand management (CDM); how volatile natural gas prices will affect electricity prices; the need for more gas pipeline infrastructure to service new gas-fuelled generators; the costs of redesigning and building new transmission and distribution infrastructure to integrate natural gas and renewable generation from wind farms; and, the need to have a back-up plan if replacement generation is not in place.

If all eight of the projects were built, they would add up to about $15 billion worth of new construction-and because states have put so many requirements on utilities to meet part of their load with renewable energy, it's "pretty likely" all of the lines will be built, Kopczynski says. The eight projects don't take into account a power line PGE has discussed with Avista to serve as a link to Avista's Coyote Springs coal-fired plant near Boardman. They also don't take into account 11 requests that Avista has received to construct smaller power lines in its own service area to link developers' proposed wind-generation plants into its transmission system. "Potential resources are wind resources located in various locations on the Avista system, including but not limited to wind farms near Spokane, Othello, Lewiston, and Clarkston, Wash., as well as Grangeville, Idaho," an Avista report says. " ... up to three additional (requests) that may soon be in the queue." Avista spokesman Hugh Imhof says none of those projects is the wind farm that Avista has said it plans to develop itself, for which it's seeking a site.

Although Ontario municipalities are still learning the details regarding their role in future ‘green energy' projects throughout the province, Scugog councillors have commented to the province on the potential impact to rural lands from a new provincial act that may also exempt the township from the decision-making process when it comes to planning renewable energy developments.

Bats and wind turbines make a bad mix. In fact, bats have become an unexpected casualty in the burgeoning wind-power industry, with several thousand bats killed by turbines each year in North America. Now studies are being conducted at the future site of a Peace region wind farm in order to save bats from dropping dead near the whirling blades. ...Most of the wind-farm research has been focused on birds, and little is known about the effect on bats, although new studies are beginning to yield clues on how to minimize the impact of the wind farms on the tiny flying animals.

The Township of Madawaska Valley Council has slapped a moratorium on the approval of any wind turbine projects until next year's municipal elections, at which time voters will have a chance to vote on the wind farm issue in a referendum question attached to their ballots. The move came after an at-times heated debate on the issue at Monday night's regular council meeting.

"This is war," is the way Amherstburg resident Mick MacCorquodale describes the looming legal fight against 120-metre-high industrial wind turbines popping up near his home and across the county. Essex County council hasn't even approved its alternative energy planning policies yet, but MacCorquodale is already gathering support to appeal them to the Ontario Municipal Board. Any appeal would further delay the more than a dozen wind farm projects being proposed at locations throughout the county. ...County council is expected to pass the third draft of its official plan amendments on alternative energy projects Wednesday after a year of study.

Newfoundland and Labrador has great potential for wind energy, but is hampered by an "isolated and relatively weak" power grid, a confidential report says. The report, obtained by CBC News, says the island's electrical grid will limit the size and potential of wind farm projects, despite a "world-class wind resource" waiting to be tapped.

Plans to transport windfarm components through a Powys town by lorry have been criticised by the local county councillor. Stephen Hayes, Powys County Councillor for Montgomery, said he is concerned at plans to transport parts for the proposed Llanbadarn Fynydd Windfarm through the market town of Montgomery. The proposed windfarm will have 17 turbines which will be 126.5 metres from the ground to the blade tip. And Montgomery is one of a number of towns which could be affected. ..."I'm concerned about people living here," he said, "their houses are right on the street. To come up here they will have to clear all the traffic on the road which will cause disruption. "I am also concerned about damage to the fabric of Montgomery, it is one of Montgomeryshire's most spectacular towns in terms of architecture."

Manitoba Hydro Board has accepted a proposal for a 300 megawatt wind farm to be erected in southern Manitoba. The proposal comes from St. Joseph Wind Farm Inc., owned by Babcock & Brown Canada. If construction goes ahead as planned the new power generation site will be the largest wind farm in Canada.

Coun. Ron Rogers is worried about a coming backlash from residents when wind turbines as tall as 35-storey buildings actually start being built across the flat expanses of Essex County. "We're not going to be able to get away from them," said Rogers after town council got an update Monday on the $100-million AIM PowerGen wind turbine project that could start construction this fall southwest of Harrow. AIM CEO Mike Crawley said the company's environmental screening report is essentially complete, although another public meeting is planned. Essex County's decision to update its official plan to deal with wind and other alternative energy projects has slowed the company's progress a bit, Crawley said. The Jones Consulting Group of Oakville is expected to release a final set of planning recommendations for the county early next month.

Acciona Energy confirmed Friday the 30-megawatt wind farm that was supposed to go into service in November near Exit 3 of the Trans-Canada Highway will not be constructed this year. "The project is suffering from the economic downtown. Liquidity for capital projects is scarce right now and this project is extremely capital intensive," Schneider said.