Bruce County is calling on the province to study the health effects of wind turbines. "The province has stated that they are not going to do a health study. We're going to encourage them with a letter hoping that they will do an independent study for the health concerns that are out there now and possibly down the road," said Huron-Kinloss Mayor Mitch Twolan.

Debate about the development of wind power within the town of Sackville has been widespread in the last two months, as the introduction of bylaws by the planning commission were tabled before the town council. The by-laws cover both turbines for individual use, and wind farms, with a generation capacity exceeding three megawatts. At the council meeting on November 9, the by-laws passed by a vote of 4-3.

Despite contentious debate last week over whether the town should open itself up to wind energy proposals at all, council decided in the end it was best to put the needed regulations in place instead of leaving the town without a strategy to guide a sector that is fast developing around the world. Coun. Margaret Tusz-King said the new wind power regulations, which were approved as part of Sackville's new zoning bylaw last Monday night, include "stringent limitations on how and where turbines will be erected."

Arran-Elderslie has passed a new noise control bylaw. The bylaw will prohibit and regulate excessive noise and associated vibration, said chief administrative officer/clerk A. P. Crawford. There is no enforceable noise control bylaw in the municipality, she said. Three pre-amalgamation bylaws for Chesley, Tara and Paisley, now more than 10 years old "are all out of date and contain invalid references due to amendments to provincial legislation," she said.

The Selinger government is considering a bailout deal to rescue the financially floundering wind farm slated to be built near St. Joseph. Following some pointed questions from Tory MLA Cliff Graydon during a committee hearing late Tuesday night, Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk acknowledged Pattern Energy has approached the government for funding and that the province is considering it.

Provincial plans to create a streamlined approval process for renewable energy projects have been met with a bevy of objections ...Officials tout it as a means of creating "green" jobs ...Many stakeholders, however, aren't entirely pleased with what's on the table. ...Perhaps the most significant hot-button issue is the 550-metre minimum separation between renewable energy projects and residences.

Property owners involved with the wind turbine project in Gulliver's Cove have liens on their property because SkyPower Corp. owes a Nova Scotia-based company over $40,000. SkyPower, which is partnered with Scotia Wind Fields, plans to erect a 30-megawatt wind farm in Gulliver's Cove using 20 turbines. ...There are 17 local landowners affected by this.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is asking Ottawa to fund more scientific research into the potential health effects of wind turbines. The organization has asked the government to focus on two areas: low-frequency noise and electrical disturbances from industrial-scale wind developments. The issue was raised in September by three municipalities from Ontario at a national board of directors meeting.

Our carbon footprint may be reduced as a result of new green legislation sweeping the country, but our legal landscape is likely to experience a power surge. That's because when Canadians get passionate about something -- such as the environment -- they often care enough to go to court. "The emotional opposition to power energy projects is very significant. The Ontario ministry of the environment says it's as vociferous as it is to landfill sites. It's surprising," says Dianne Saxe, an environmental lawyer in Toronto.

A bankrupt wind energy company's latest attempt to get funding from P.E.I. taxpayers has been turned down. ...The Department of Innovation told CBC news Monday the company made several requests for loans, but none of the terms would give the province the kind of economic return it is looking for.

Six Digby Neck residents will visit Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau Wednesday in Halifax to ask a few questions about a planned wind turbine park. "We're trying to find out his reasoning for approving this turbine site in the first place," Evelyn Hayden said Monday. "We're just a group of concerned citizens that are trying to protect the health of everybody down here."

On the surface, it looked like bad news for dozens of farmers in Prince Edward County, about 200 kilometres east of Toronto, who had leased portions of their land to SkyPower Corp. for a large wind power project. SkyPower filed for bankruptcy protection in August, after which a creditor was able to register construction liens against about 150 parcels of those properties. ..."The take-home message is that people have good reason to be cautious on a number of different levels when looking at [renewable] energy projects," said Eric Gillespie, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in environmental issues.

Prince Edward County councillors and members of the public left the Nov. 10 special meeting over a new proposed windmill bylaw for the municipality at Shire Hall feeling impotent, bemoaning the unanswered questions. "In my opinion, the mark was missed. And in a lot of ways, it feels like we're beating a dead horse because, in the game of politics, the Ontario government trumps municipalities. And if the province doesn't want it, then the province isn't going to care what we have on paper," said Prince Edward County councillor Kevin Gale.

Manitoba's green-energy projects are sucking wind compared to other provinces and companies that develop and service wind farms are starting to take their business elsewhere. While Manitoba's newest wind farm, a 300-megawatt project near St. Joseph, is mired in delays and nine more proposed projects have been shelved, Ontario has launched a radical program aimed at fast-tracking turbines. ...Wowchuk, who is in charge of Manitoba Hydro, said it's not fair to compare Manitoba to Ontario, since our province already relies almost exclusively on renewable energy but Ontario is powered largely by dirty coal. And, she said, Manitoba is blessed with cheap power, meaning ratepayers would take a hit if the province threw open its doors to wind power like Ontario has done.

It's the latest in the NIMBY syndrome. The Halifax Regional Municipality wants to get the public's feedback on how far wind turbines must be located from homes, roadways and property lines. The first of nine public meetings was held Monday night at Brookside Junior High School in Prospect. ...Most people want a conservative approach to setting guidelines for allowing turbines near a residence.

It was another restless night in a long string of interrupted sleep. Amaranth's Leo Mendonca didn't feel quite right, like something was wrong, but he didn't know what, or why. When he got out of bed, he was struck by a wave of nausea. ...Thinking some fresh air may do the trick, he headed out to the garden. There, he looked up and saw what he now believes is the source of his troubles ... an industrial-sized wind turbine about 600 metres away, and many more within sight.

About 150 properties that make up the Byran wind energy project, part of the failed Skypower Corporation in the northeast corner of Prince Edward County, have had construction liens placed upon their land and registered on title by a creditor to whom Skypower owes a quarter million dollars. Construction liens are legal claims on a project to ensure a builder, tradesperson or consultant gets paid for his or her work. Worse for the property owners, these construction liens have been perfected through a special court order that was granted last Thursday.

Ontario's recently implemented Green Energy Act is taking some of the wind out of Quebec's claim that it is the leading promoter of wind energy in Canada, a seminar on supply-chain opportunities in the sector heard yesterday. Last month, Ontario became the first jurisdiction in North America to have a so-called feed-in tariff, which pays producers of green energy - including solar and wind - a guaranteed premium for the power they produce.

Not many people would have expected a Spanish billionaire to show up in Nova Scotia with the cash to save a local wind farm development, but that is exactly what happened on Monday. The Spanish investor's involvement is good news for Shear Wind Inc. of Halifax and its stalled Glen Dhu wind park planned for Pictou and Antigonish counties. ...Now that financing seems to be solidly in place, construction of the first phase of the Glen Dhu wind park is to begin almost immediately.

Members of the Nor'Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee appeared in the public gallery of council chambers Monday evening. There they watched as councillors passed a motion allowing city administration to draft an information report on the background of the Horizon Energy Inc. planned wind farm. As councillors discussed the points they wanted the report to examine, city planning and development manager Mark Smith warned that local decision-making powers may be limited amid the province's Green Energy Act.