Wind farm helps end coal use: Smitherman; About 50 protesters at Enbridge official opening

The Enbridge wind turbine project near Underwood is a step toward eliminating coal-fired electricity generation, Ontario Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman said Friday at the project’s official opening.

It also provides economic stimulus for farmers, increases the tax base and provides employment, he said.

“It was a monumental engineering feat that brought along this capacity,” Smitherman said to a crowd of property owners, Enbridge staff, local media and politicians.

The 190-megawatt project is made up of 115 Vestas V82 1.65MW wind turbines on properties from Concession 4 north to Kincardine’s border with Saugeen Shores.

Rain poured down and fog lingered around the Con. 6 turbine site, next to a substation that handles electricity generated by the turbines, which started producing power last fall.

About 50 protesters greeted officials, with signs and placards reading “Windfarms Make People Sick,” “Welcome to Hell,” “Save Our Skyline” and “Health before Politics.”

“I consider myself a green person, but there’s controversy on how green (wind turbines) actually are,” said Norma Schmidt of the former Bruce Township, adding that she and her husband Ron have had problems sleeping since the project was commissioned. “Health concerns are important. These projects should not be put up at the expense of people.”

The protesters converged on the area from other communities with wind farms from Renfrew, Shelburne, Grey Highlands, Essex, Chatham-Kent, Port Burwell and Kingsbridge. Some were also from the surrounding area.

Local wind activist Bill Palmer said the protest was spearheaded by Wind Concerns Ontario, a group protesting wind energy based on its health effects on local residents. Protesters questioned how much wind generation is actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions and raised concerns about the visual impact on the landscape and the loss of local control over projects if the provincial Green Energy Act is made law.

“We’ve been telling the government about the problems, but nobody is listening,” Palmer said. “Everyone shares very similar concerns around health issues and how their quality of life has been impacted.”

Palmer said inadequate setbacks from turbines have led to these issues and said wind power is expensive and does little to alleviate climate change concerns.

Smitherman said the Green Energy Act would allow more projects to go ahead in a streamlined way, based on guidelines set out by the province, rather than a patchwork of municipal rules.

“It’s creating provincewide standards from Kincardine to Kingston, so there is a provincial law that’s the same,” he said. “It will enhance opportunities for companies like Enbridge . . . and bring more of these projects to life.”

Regarding criticisms about the removal of local control and the impact it could have on communities, Smitherman said the Ministry of Environment is open to hearing about setbacks and health concerns. They’re also listening to local municipal councils and plan to educate them to ensure they understand the implications of the act.

Smitherman said with 75 per cent of Ontario’s power produced by nuclear and hydroelectric generation and an increasing portion of gas-powered electricity available during peak periods, there’s a “good space” for renewable energy to fit into the mix, and more is planned for the near future.

By using a “good rate of compensation” to encourage solar, wind, biomass and biogas electricity production, the province’s goal is to allow the Green Energy Act to usher in new opportunities, construction and employment. He added that incentives will be offered to promote “distributed generation” to see individual homeowners produce electricity to meet their needs.

Smitherman shrugged off the attendance of the protesters, saying although nuclear power is widely supported locally, it has its critics and the same goes for wind power.

“Some folks are not in favour of wind power and we’ll be listening closely to their concerns as we implement the (Green Energy Act),” he said.

Troy Patterson is editor of the Kincardine News

Owen Sound Sun Times

4 April 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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