Compensation for Industrial Wind Turbines
By Wayne Elliott, The Goderich Signal-Star, www.goderichsignalstar.com 5 May 2011
By Wayne Elliott, The Goderich Signal-Star, www.goderichsignalstar.com 5 May 2011
I once was categorized as a Canadian, an Ontarian, and a resident of Central Huron. Since the passage of the Green Energy Act (GEA) by the Ontario Liberals (with support of the NDP) and the development of the Twenty Two Degrees industrial wind turbine zone, I have now been relegated to the lowly status of “non-participating receptor”.
I had no say in being stuck in the heart of this zone. It was forced on me. The choice was made for me by the Ontario Liberals, an industrial wind zone developer and a handful of landowners. I have absolutely no desire to live in the middle of an industrial wind turbine zone.
To bring some semblance of fairness to this situation, I would respectfully request that Dalton McGuinty, Carol Mitchell and their Liberal comrades amend the GEA to stipulate that under the Renewable Energy Approvals (REA) process, developers of industrial wind turbine projects must offer non-participating receptors a compensation package that provides a fair price for the purchase of their house and property, payment of legal and other fees and a relocation allowance.
This would not be precedent setting as wind developers have already purchased over 10 properties in the Amaranth and Ripley project areas that were made un-liveable by industrial wind turbines. These sales can be found in a search of the Ontario Land Registry.
This would be a winning situation for all involved. The Ontario Liberals would see reduced opposition from non-participating receptors, allowing them to continue with their pursuit to industrialize and desecrate rural Ontario.
The wind developers would win. They would assume no financial risk for providing compensation for these properties as both they and the Ontario Liberals profess that there are legions of families that embrace industrial wind turbines, so they will be lined up to purchase these properties, likely at premium prices, so they can live within the shadow (flicker) of their 50 storey high idols. The other option would be for the wind developers to knock down these newly acquired homes and erect additional wind turbines. Over the life of a 20 year FIT contract, this would be more economical than making lease payments to private landowners, and it is simpler to just eliminate the receptors.
The compensated non-participating receptors would win. Even though they would be leaving family and friends behind, they would now be able to, with their hard earned equity intact, emigrate to another Province, or even Country, where democracy and basic rights are still respected, and electricity rates are not inflated because of unreliable and uneconomical forms of renewable energy forced upon them, driving people into energy poverty.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/06/compensation-for-industrial-wind-turbines/