What had been billed as a wind information meeting turned out to be a two-hourplus bashing of wind turbines and their proponents in the basement of the Amaranth Township municipal building Tuesday night.
What had been billed as a wind information meeting turned out to be a two-hourplus bashing of wind turbines and their proponents in the basement of the Amaranth Township municipal building Tuesday night.
The meeting had been called for 7 p.m., but didn't get under way until a quarter hour later, as some of the estimated 200 attendees were still lined up at the registration desk, which forced it to continue past the advertised 9 p.m. close. Even so, a few might have felt cheated out of an opportunity to ask a question or make a statement.
A group calling itself the Amaranth Citizens Coalition had called the meeting. Those attending were asked to register prior to entering the hall, where they were urged to pick up copies of a suggested letter of protest, along with a handout containing excerpts from provincial guidelines on environmental assessments for electricity projects such as turbines.
Ian Reed, a former airline pilot who …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]The meeting had been called for 7 p.m., but didn't get under way until a quarter hour later, as some of the estimated 200 attendees were still lined up at the registration desk, which forced it to continue past the advertised 9 p.m. close. Even so, a few might have felt cheated out of an opportunity to ask a question or make a statement.
A group calling itself the Amaranth Citizens Coalition had called the meeting. Those attending were asked to register prior to entering the hall, where they were urged to pick up copies of a suggested letter of protest, along with a handout containing excerpts from provincial guidelines on environmental assessments for electricity projects such as turbines.
Ian Reed, a former airline pilot who describes himself as a semi-retired farmer, chaired the meeting as a founder of the anti-turbine group.
Toward the end of the meeting, he suggested the group could use financial support as, he said, the cost of Tuesday night's gathering, including materials, had been about $700.
The tone of the meeting became evident as speakers were introduced. Dennis Sanford was given 15 minutes to read a speech he had previously delivered to Melancthon Township Council in opposition to Phase 2 of the windfarm development.
He was followed by Tony Howard and Roger Pettit, both of whom described themselves as early members of Power Up Renewable Energy but who had changed their minds about turbines for alternative energy after the wind farm was being developed near their own properties.
Mr. Pettit, 65, was cut short before he had finished his prepared presentation, in which he said he'd been unable to sell his rural property for a listed $700,000 because of the proximity of the turbines. His statement was challenged during the ensuing question period when Jim Wilson, who has five turbines on his Melancthon property, said a 200-acre tract across from him had sold for $1.5-million because of the turbines.
"There are only three reasons why property is not sold," said Mr. Wilson, "the roof leaks, the basement leaks, or it's overpriced."
Fred Entwistle, the keynote speaker of the evening, boasted of having spent 1,800 hours researching turbines, and of successfully acting as a consultant for groups opposing them in Mono and elsewhere.
By his calculations, nuclear energy is less costly than wind energy despite what he charted as the $14-billion cost to taxpayers of a nuclear plant. And, he said, municipalities can expect to gain no more than $450 property tax on each turbine. (Amaranth council meetings had discussed an annual tax rate of $2,700 per turbine.)
Mr. Entwistle accused proponents of wind farms of either not revealing all the facts, or of making misleading statements. He said the "advertised" capacity of 67.5 megawatts does not represent the output; that the actual production would be between 20 and 24 per cent of that amount.
Mr. Entwistle said Canadian Hydro Developers (CHD) would never tell the public precisely how much energy was being produced. (However, the output of every generating plant in Ontario, including wind farms, is available 24/7 on the website of the Independent Electrical Suppliers of Ontario.)
In his introduction to the meeting, Mr. Reed said seven wind-generating companies are viewing Amaranth and the local area - Helix,Windrush, Snider, Enviroenergy, Trillium, Invergy Wind and Barens - in addition to Canadian Hydro.
According to his account, there would be 4,000 local turbines if all were approved. Yet Mr. Entwistle said the area is not ideal for turbines, as the wind isn't strong enough or reliable enough. He quoted Premier Dalton McGuinty as saying, in effect, that nuclear is the only solution to energy problems.
In the question period, Fred Clark - who introduced himself as an employee of Trillium wind generation - asked Mr. Entwistle who was paying him for all his consulting, and whether he is a lobbyist for nuclear energy. Mr. Entwistle responded that he is an unpaid volunteer although he would be paid mileage for his appearance at the meeting.
Two other concerns surfaced during the meeting.
Grant Swift, of the Seventh Line of Amaranth, was concerned about future rehabilitation of the turbine sites, and Donna Paulson felt the people should fight against Section 23 of provincial Bill 51, which had been cited by Mr. Entwistle during his presentation.
Section 23, according to Mr. Entwistle, would take away the power of municipalities to rule against wind generators in their Official Plans. The bill, he said, is in its second reading.
During his presentation, Mr. Entwistle raised the spectre of "transmission lines criss-crossing the township."
That, however, has been avoided by CHD through the use of underground cables, with the exception of a single line to the transformer sub-station.