A majority of "construction ready" wind projects in Ontario won't go forward if the province passes regulations that keep wind turbines a minimum distance from residences, roads and railway lines, warns Canada's wind energy association. ...more than three-quarters of 103 advanced-stage wind projects will likely be affected if the new rules are enacted.

A majority of "construction ready" wind projects in Ontario won't go forward if the province passes regulations that keep wind turbines a minimum distance from residences, roads and railway lines, warns Canada's wind energy association.

A global wind energy company with a subsidiary in Burlington is conducting two wind studies in Arran-Elderslie and council does not think either location is good or the 120-metre towers. "We should let them know we don't want them," said Coun. Mark Davis. NextEra Energy Resources is proposing to erect six windmills at each location.

A wind turbine manufacturer with sales offices in Boulder has been ordered to pay its former Canadian employees the back wages they're owed, according to Prince Edward Island's labor department. Entegrity Wind Systems, which operates two manufacturing plants in Canada, laid off 35 employees in June, the majority of its workers.

Darrel and Jean Gogel's Trochu acreage is a piece of calm in a hectic world--where Darrel can retreat after working days away as a truck driver, and Jean can unwind from her job as a hospital housekeeper. That could change, the couple says, if a plan for a 54-turbine wind farm near their house goes ahead.

In Huron County, the local federation of agriculture is calling for a moratorium on projects pending results of an epidemiological study on wind power's health effects. Alternative energy companies, such as the one proposing the Middlesex project, are paying close attention to the rising opposition. "It has kind of taken off across the country."

At the latest public information meeting on July 7, they were saying the same thing, but this time with a brand new plan aimed at being implemented starting August 2009. The plan unveiled to people in St. Joseph called for a decrease in turbine power from 2.4 to 2.3 megawatts, and an increase in numbers, from 120 to 130.

A wind turbine maker based in Charlottetown is under investigation by P.E.I.'s Labour Relations Board after employees complained they were owed up to eight weeks of back pay. Entegrity Wind Systems sent most of their workers home late last month after running into financial trouble. But most of their 50 workers haven't been paid since mid-May.

Residents at the first open house for a proposal to put wind turbines in Lake Erie left with more questions than answers Wednesday night. "You have no hard facts on your boards," said Patty Janisse, a Kingsville lakefront resident, after seeing a series of posters. A steady stream of people came to the Leamington Lebanese Club Wednesday night for an open house hosted by SouthPoint Wind.

A wind turbine maker in Charlottetown is under investigation by P.E.I.'s Labour Relations Board after employees complained they're owed up to eight weeks of back pay. Entegrity Wind Systems sent most of their workers home late last month after running into financial trouble.

A Kerwood area woman is appealing to other Adelaide-Metcalfe residents to join her in a last minute effort to stop wind turbines from being erected in the township until more information is known about possible negative health effects. "Just stop until we get some studies done," said Esther Wrightman, who recently produced a pamphlet and a website to try to increase awareness of possible health risks.

East Zorra-Tavistock council met with county planners behind closed doors last week, to learn about its role surrounding a proposed wind farm northwest of Innerkip. Council's in-camera 'education and training' session is permitted under the Ontario Municipal Act. Under the act's provisions, the doors can be closed to the public to allow council to learn and ask questions about a particular topic.

By now, the residents of Wolfe Island, Ont., are getting used to the whirr and thump of wind turbines overhead. By next year, they'll get a glimpse of whether those whirrs and thumps could be damaging their health. Researchers at nearby Queen's University have embarked on the first study to probe whether wind turbines built over communities can cause adverse health effects.

The managing director of the company behind two Oxford County wind farm proposals suggested the speakers at a recent "Wind Energy Information Night" overstated the alleged health risks of industrial wind turbines. Bart Geleynse of Prowind Canada Inc. said the speakers at the Hickson Central Public School meeting were claiming a causal relationship between wind turbines and health risks without any compelling evidence. ...Both David Colling, an electrical pollution consultant, and retired pharmacist Carmen Krogh were adamant about the link between wind turbines and a number of adverse symptoms, including dizziness, nausea, headaches and tinnitus.

A group of residents in the countryside west of Port Rowan is looking for help now that the McGuinty government has conceded that wind turbines and people don't mix very well. The McGuinty government proposed last month that new wind turbines in Ontario be at least 550 metres away from the nearest residential dwelling.

Two Ripley families say they've moved out of their homes because of what they say is the negative health effects of living too close to wind turbines. "We can't live in our house anymore. We bought a house and moved to Kincardine. My son and daughter-in-law and two-year-old who live on a different farm . . . the wind company is paying for them to stay in Kincardine," said Glen Wild.

The federation's directors discussed the current debate around wind turbine developments at their June meeting and passed two resolutions. One was to request lower-tier municipalities in Huron to enact a moratorium on commercial wind energy projects pending results of an epidemiological study conducted into the health impacts of the specific infrastructure on residents living near such developments. The other was to support the study.

The installation of a massive wind turbine atop Grouse Mountain has been delayed after the lifting device intended to carry the blades -- a kind of giant sling -- did not perform well in tests on Thursday.

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.

Construction work on a windmill as tall as a 20-storey building on the peak of Grouse Mountain was halted Friday because of safety concerns about lifting the massive blades. A Skycrane helicopter was expected to lift the three 37-metre-long blades up to the mountain ski resort from a barge.