unaffordable renewables

Grey Highlands Council wants to freeze permits for wind turbines…

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Working Group wants wind developers to take into account wind concerns.

(Grey Highlands) – Grey Highlands Council will consider a bylaw on Monday to freeze any new permits for construction of industrial wind turbines in the municipality.

It is part of the regular council meeting which begins at 5 PM.

CAO Dan Best says called the “Grey Highlands Renewable Energy Working Group” wants any proposed projects to take into account the concerns of nearby residents about any impact on their health.

Medical Officer of Health Doctor Hazel Lynn presented a report just over a year ago, that looked at various studies around the world, on the health complaints from people living near Giant wind turbines.

Her conclusion was that these are not NIMBYs, these are people affected by these things.

Doctor Lynn also recommended Health Canada do more research on the association between wind turbine noise and human distress.

Best says the bylaw under consideration would have to be considered by any company proposing a wind farm in Grey Highlands.

However, the municipality has little say in those projects as provincial legislation would trump anything Grey Highlands does to stop new developments.

The municipality has declared itself an unwilling host for new wind farms.

By Kevin Bernard
Posted on Bayshore Broadcasting, Apr. 14, 2014

Not clean, green, or efficient. Just a waste of time and MONEY!!!

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WIND ENERGY — FREE AND CLEAN? ACTUAL WORLD DATA PROVES OTHERWISE

High numbers of wind turbines equals the highest electricity rates.

Tip of the hat to the Galileo Movement for this chart.

This chart uses data from 2011.  Ontario, which has seen several rate hikes since then is not on this chart, but is lumped in with the rest of Canada.  However, we  know that Ontario (the province with the most wind turbines in Canada) also has the highest rates, so if it were listed separately, it would be much higher up on the graph.

Notice also that California and Texas, 2 states that have heavily invested in wind turbines, are much higher on the list than states that haven’t.

Interesting to note that the countries with the most wind turbines also have the highest electricity prices. Among the top 10 countries with the highest rates are Denmark, Germany, Australia and Norway, all of which are world leaders in wind turbines blanketing their lands.

As noted a couple of weeks ago, those same places have seen a dramatic rise in their CO2 emissions.  Thus proving that 2 of the main reasons for switching to wind, according to the wind energy associations around the world — CHEAP or FREE energy that also helps to reduce CO2 emissions — are complete lies.

When is this corrupt industry going to be exposed for the liars and con artists that they are?  But more importantly, why are our politicians and governments going along with this corruption? Money?  Political influence?  Eco lobbyists?

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Wind Turbines being placed in important birding areas. Green energy? At what cost?

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Voices from the Thedford Bog: Wind turbines are “a social experiment, a mess, a failure”

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Protesters joined the remaining migrating tundra swans at the Thedford Bog near Grand Bend, Lake Huron, on Sunday, April 6, 2014, to condemn plans to build a bristling barrier of industrial wind turbines in what is a designated Important Bird Area. Every March some 10-15,000 tundra swans stop at the Thedford Bog and environs to rest and feed before continuing on their migration to the western Arctic.

Waterfowl scientist Dr. Scott Petrie told CBC News in 2012:

By putting the turbines in inappropriate places, it actually is tantamount to habitat loss. You wouldn’t put an office tower next to a coastal wetland, why would you put a wind turbine there?

Monte McNaughton, Progressive Conservative Member of the Provincial Parliament of Ontario (MPP) for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, reminded the protesters that his party’s leader, Tim Hudak, has promised, if elected, to repeal the Green Energy Act, the draconian legislation that has given unprecedented rights to industrial wind turbines over people, communities and wildlife. The Green Energy Act was enacted in 2009 in part as a response to the fake planetary emergency of man-made global warming/climate change.

“Worst economic policy ever”

“Worst economic policy ever”

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CLICK ON IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO (some wind noise)

The Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne Liberal governments have allowed the Ontario landscape to be despoiled and blighted by thousands of useless industrial wind turbines. The machines, towering as high as 50-storey buildings, built on a foundation that requires 800 tons of concrete each that will remain in the ground of prime farmland forever, have been erected in the absence of any cost-benefit analysis or human health studies, and accorded special rights by the Liberal government with its elimination of environmental restrictions inconvenient to wind companies.

Premier Kathleen Wynne has promised to build thousands more of the extortionate-to-taxpayers, destructive, un-green industrial monstrosities.

Trying to correct the misinformation given out by the wind pushers!

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Informed farmers coalition to educate farmers on wind turbine projects

Credit:  By: staff | Amboy News Informed | Posted: Tuesday, Apr 8th, 2014 | www.amboynews.com ~~

WALNUT – The Informed Farmers Coalition (IFC), a group of Lee, Bureau and Whiteside county landowners and citizens, is working to spread awareness about wind turbine project development and the adverse effects it may have on these communities. The group is hoping to raise awareness about the Green River and Walnut Ridge turbine projects owned by Geronimo Energy. Geronimo is currently contacting area farmers to sign new contracts with the company. IFC wants to make sure all area farmers understand the facts concerning wind farm development.

“The Informed Farmers have spent the last three years attempting to educate local citizens on the problems and challenges associated with Wind Turbine Developments. In that time more and more information has become available and the public has become more informed. However, turbine developers continue to mislead the public about problems that continue to exist with wind development. That fact, in addition to a renewed effort to reach new landowners by a subsequent buyer of two local projects, causes us to renew our efforts to make sure the citizens of our local community are informed,” said Kendall Guither, IFC spokesperson.

Many families are speaking up and sharing their personal experience with a wind turbine project near their home. Ted Hartke is a landowner who learned the hard way that the benefits do not outweigh the hardships. He says his entire family has been negatively affected by the turbines on their property.

“I never had any concerns about the wind project being built near my home and had initially thought that the project would be good for my community and my children’s school,” stated Hartke. “But then the turbines turned on and the noise began hurting my wife and kids. Because of wind turbine noise, our entire family suffered major sleep deprivation and then we all began developing health problems. My children struggled at school, and my wife and I began having difficulty with our memory and ability to concentrate and function at work.”

There are both health and financial risks involved in allowing a wind turbine to be built on one’s property. It has been reported that noise and shadow flicker from the turbines can cause sleep deprivation, vertigo, stress and nausea. The financial risks can include the cost associated with decommissioning, damage to a farmer’s land and the increased cost of spraying pesticides.

The IFC urges landowners to contact them to discuss these issues as well as many more associated with these turbines. A concerned farmer should also discuss the pros and cons with their friends and neighbors as well as have an attorney look at any contract before signing.

For more information please contact informedfarmers@yahoo.com or consult the website http://www.wind-watch.org.

Never trust a wind weasel…..they will say anything!

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UK: WIND DEVELOPER ‘MISLEAD PUBLIC’ OVER CONTROVERSIAL WIND FARM (WHAT A SURPRISE)

Developer ‘misled public’ over controversial wind farm off Isle of Wight

Campaigners ask Planning Inspectorate to throw out application for Navitus Bay wind farm, which would have up to 194 turbines and be visible from the Jurassic Coast

Emily Gosden — Energy Editor, Telegraph (UK) — April 13, 2014

Developers of a massive wind farm off the Isle of Wight have misled the public over its appearance and impact on the economy, according to campaigners who argue it will ruin views from some of Britain’s finest coastlines.

Plans for the Navitus Bay offshore wind farm, a vast development of up to 194 turbines that has sparked fierce local opposition, were submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on Thursday.

Campaigners have written to the Inspectorate claiming it should not even consider the application as it stands because the developer “failed to consult adequately”.

Dr Andrew Langley of the Challenge Navitus group claims the consultation provided “incomplete, unclear and even misleading information”.

Navitus Bay Development Ltd – a joint venture between French energy giant EDF and Eneco of the Netherlands – announced in February it was scaling back the size of the farm in light of opposition during the consultation.

However, Dr Langley said it might have been forced to make further changes had the public been fully appraised of the project.

The revised proposal for the £3bn wind farm would still span 59 square miles. The turbines would be between 580 and 656 feet tall and would be visible from the shore, including from Durlston Head on the Jurassic Coast, just 9 miles away, and the Needles on the Isle of Wight, less than 11 miles away.  Continue reading full article here…..


The turbines could be between 580 and 656 feet tall and would be visible from the shore including from the Needles on the Isle of Wight, less than 11 miles away.

Wind Turbine Companies don’t want to clean up their mess!

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NORTH DAKOTA WANTS FINANCIAL ASSURANCE THAT WIND TURBINES WILL BE TAKEN DOWN IN 20 YEARS. NEXTERA BALKS.

“The goal is to ensure that after a wind turbine has generated its last kilowatt, the owner has a plan – and the financial means – to restore the landscape to its original condition.”

Mike Nowatzki — InForum — April 12, 2014

When wind turbines stop turning

BISMARCK – For more than a decade, they have towered like workhorses over the prairie, their spinning blades catching the wind and converting it to electricity.

Now, for the first time, the North Dakota Public Service Commission is considering whether to require operators of the state’s oldest commercial wind turbines to provide some form of financial assurance to cover the costs of retiring the turbines when they reach the end of their lifespan.

The goal is to ensure that after a wind turbine has generated its last kilowatt, the owner has a plan – and the financial means – to restore the landscape to its original condition.

“It’s a really good idea, and there has to be something where if a company walks away, that the ability is there to put the land back the way it was,” PSC Chairman Brian Kalk said.

But not everyone thinks such financial guarantees are necessary, including NextEra Energy Resources, whose wind projects near Edgeley and Kulm are part of the PSC’s review of decommissioning plans.  Continue reading here….

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Noise from Wind Turbines ignored as usual!

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Pac Hydro promises but fails to fix its screeching fans at Cape Bridgewater

April 13, 2014 by  2 Comments

Cape Bridgewater screech

Pacific Hydro – run by Union Heavy, Gary Weaven and funded by Union Super money handled by Members Equity Bank, controlled by his best mate Greg Combet – operates a non-compliant wind farm at Cape Bridgewater in Victoria – and has done since 2008.

The Victorian government is well aware that Pac Hydro does not and can not comply with the noise conditions of its planning consent, but does nothing to challenge it. This malign acquiescence means that Pac Hydro has been able to (unlawfully) pocket millions of RECs (at times worth up to $60 each) over the last 5 years when it should have never been accredited by the Clean Energy Regulator to receive RECs at all. But that’s just the financial aspect of a far greater crime.

By aiding and abetting Pac Hydro to breach the noise conditions of its planning consent (the ones meant to protect neighbours from excessive noise) the Victorian government is also guilty of causing untold and unnecessary human suffering.

If you were to breach the conditions of a planning permit – by say, adding an extra metre or two to a boundary wall – the Vic Planning Department would have you tear it down in a jiffy. But, when it comes to enforcing the rules that are supposed to govern the operation of wind farms, these boys run strangely silent.

STT thinks the answer lays in the cracking speech delivered by Victorian Senator, John “Marshall” Madigan before Christmas, which lambasted the Planning Minister, Matthew Guy and the wind industry’s “Mr Fix-it”, Andrew Tongue for their role in helping outfits like Pac Hydro ride roughshod over the rules – and a lot of ordinary, hard-working rural people.

As if tolerating an endless barrage of turbine generated low-frequency noise and infra-sound wasn’t bad enough, long-suffering neighbours have had to put up with an excruciating “screech” emitted by Pac Hydro’s giant fans. The “screech” has been a periodic feature of daily life at Cape Bridgewater since 2011.

Pac Hydro has made a series of hollow promises to their victims about fixing the “screech” – which have, quite evidently, come to nothing.

Cop an ear-full of this 3 minute video – recorded over the last 3 years at a home 600 metres from the nearest turbine – capturing the “gently soothing tones” (the industry’s pet acoustic consultants liken it to waves lapping on a moonlit beach) produced by Pac Hydro’s giant fans – and featuring the pure “melody” of the “screech”:

What a tremendous consolation it must be for Pac Hydro’ numerous Cape Bridgewater victims to know that it’s “sorry” about the “screech”.

With hollow promises and disingenuous apologies it’s little wonder the locals are experiencing what is euphemistically called “community outrage”.

A while back, Pac Hydro sent in the shadowy outfit “Futureye” in an effort to quell local disquiet – using its own special brand of “outrage management” (see our post here). But it seems its efforts have simply backfired – the victims are, quite rightly, angrier than ever.

No one should have to put up with treatment like this. Those that created it – and those who seek to excuse it – should hang their heads in shame.

Ashamed head-in-hands

You got me – it’s all my fault and there are no excuses.

Liberals have created “energy poverty”, for many people in Ontario!

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Tales of skyrocketing household hydro bills are commonplace across Ontario. And understandably everyone — even with modest bills — should worry for the simple reason that it’s only going to get worse.

Thanks to the Liberal government’s “long-term energy plan,” Ontarians can count on their electricity rates going up 33 per cent over the next three years. And within five years, the average monthly bill of $125 will rise to $178 — a 42 per cent increase

For individuals and families, it’s going to be a huge burden. But what’s sometimes forgotten is that soaring energy costs are having a serious impact on the economy. According to the Association of Major Power Consumers of Ontario, the province already has the highest industrial rates in North America.

Based on 2012 power prices, AMPCO — representing almost 40 of the largest power consumers in the province — says Ontario industries pay 7.6 cents to 9.4 cents for a kilowatt hour for electricity.

That’s higher than the average prices of 5.6 cents a kWh in New York, 5.4 cents in six New England states, 4.5 cents in 14 jurisdictions in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland region and 3.2 cents in a group of 15 Midwestern states. The average price paid by large industrial power users in Toronto is nearly 11 cents per kWh, according to a Hydro-Québec 2013 survey. That compares with 4.8 cents in Montreal, 5.45 cents in Chicago and 8.12 cents in Detroit.

Based on the Wynne government’s long-term energy plan, industrial rates in Ontario will increase 30 per cent by 2018.
AMPCO has made it very clear: If businesses don’t like their hydro bills, the blame lies directly at Queen’s Park.

In fact, provincially set hydro costs have increased nearly 50 per cent under the Liberal government’s watch. The reasons are myriad. The Green Energy Act — the centrepiece of the old long-term energy plan — has proven to be overly expensive and controversial. And each year about $1 billion is spent to pay for the stranded debt that was left over after the breakup and restructuring of Ontario Hydro.

According to the auditor general, the province also sells electricity exports for less than they’re worth. Between 2005 and 2011, the loss was $1.8 billion. And then there’s the more than $1 billion the government needlessly spent to move two gas plants for no other reason than to save Liberal seats in the last election.

AMPCO believes that cheaper electricity rates in other jurisdictions pose a threat to existing industries and new job creation.
“We really feel like the government needs to act … given the risk we see of further losses of industrial load (hydro use) in Ontario, and the problems that will lead to,” AMPCO president Adam White told the Toronto Star recently.

White is also urging the government to allow businesses to tap into the surpluses, “instead of paying for it to be wasted, or exporting it to be consumed outside of Ontario at next to nothing.”

“We think it’s a better policy choice to have that power priced to attract investment and sustain production and jobs in Ontario,” White added.

At best, the Liberals’ energy policy is a mess. It has failed to deliver affordable hydro rates that are fair to families and serve as an incentive for businesses investment.

The next election will provide Ontarians with the opportunity to send a simple message to all the parties — it’s time for an affordable energy plan in this province.

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Liberals willing to destroy province, to save themselves!

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Kelly McParland: McGuinty sell-off plan resurrected as Liberals scrape for cash

Kelly McParland | April 11, 2014 3:07 PM ET
More from Kelly McParland | @KellyMcParland

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa: Don't worry, we'll spend every extra cent.

Chris Young/The Canadian PressOntario Finance Minister Charles Sousa: Don’t worry, we’ll spend every extra cent.

Ontario’s Liberal government is not keen on reminding voters of its links with former premier Dalton McGuinty — current Premier Kathleen Wynne can’t bring herself even to mention his name. But the Liberals remain committed to his support for recycling: On Friday they revealed hopes of recycling an old McGuinty plan to sell off billions of dollars of assets to help finance new “investments.”

“We’re going to evaluate the best use of these assets as well as the maximum potential of the respective Crown businesses,” Finance Minister Charles Sousa told the Economic Club of Toronto, putting the best corporate spin on the plan. “We are going to determine which business the government should be owning and what it shouldn’t.”

A panel will be set up under Ed Clark, CEO of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, to evaluate properties and other holdings, and identify any that  “may no longer serve a public good.” Sousa cited shares in General Motors the province acquired when it helped bail out the automaker in 2009.  Other possibilities include utilities Hydro One Inc. and Ontario Power Generation Inc., and perhaps even the LCBO, the monopoly liquor operation that paid the province a “dividend” of $1.7 billion last year.

JASON KRYK/ THE WINDSOR STAR

JASON KRYK/ THE WINDSOR STARMcGuinty: Wasn’t that my idea?

Continuing in business-speak, Sousa added: “To maximize the value of these assets to the province, they will look at measures such as efficient governance, growth strategies, corporate reorganization, mergers, acquisitions, and public-private partnerships.”

“The council will give preference to continued government ownership of all core strategic assets.”

Hmm, interesting. So rather than just let the stuff sit around gathering dust, Mr. Clark has been recruited to figure out ways to run them better or sell them off. Giving preference to “government ownership” of “core strategic assets” means nothing, since the government can declare anything core or non-core, depending on how it feels.

None of the money is to be wasted paying off debt. Heaven forbid. Last thing a province owing $288 billion, and adding to it at a rate of $11 billion a year, would want to do is reduce debt. No, the money will be reinvested — i.e. spent — on new projects the government can tout whenever it is forced to go to the polls, which could quickly follow its May budget.

Though Mr. Sousa wasn’t eager to remind anyone, his plan echoes a similar scheme floated by Mr. McGuinty three summers ago. The idea then was to combine the LCBO, Hydro One, OPG and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. into one big “super corporation” and sell off parts of it to raise money. Mr. McGuinty was just as strapped for cash as the Wynne government, and similarly didn’t want that to stop him pledging new spending plans.

“We want to the take the proceeds out of assets we already own and invest them in other assets to make some legacy investments,” an unnamed Liberal said at the time, sounding a lot like Mr. Sousa.  It was rumoured that SuperCorp would be headed byDavid Livingston, then the CEO of Infrastructure Ontario. Mr. Livingstone later became Mr. McGuinty’s chief of staff and is now under investigation by police on allegations of overseeing a mass purge of emails about the $1.2 billion gas plant scandal. It’s the embarrassment of that allegation that has Ms. Wynne unable to mention her predecessor by name.

SuperCorp — which was supposed to raise up to $12 billion — never happened. The plan was fiercely opposed by government unions, which fear being severed from the friendly confines of government employment and faced with a less malleable private sector employer. Mr. Sousa may find his scheme equally unpopular, at a time when the minority Wynne government is particularly keen to keep organized labour onside, and depends on the New Democratic Party to keep it in office. NDP MP Peter Tabuns quickly questioned Sousa’s plan, suggesting it mirrored a Progressive Conservative privatization plan, just at a slower rate.

The Liberals are looking for any means to pay for transit expansion and other infrastructure expenses, without raising taxes.  Ms. Wynne has pledged to push ahead with badly-needed transit projects in the Toronto region, but has since ruled out most of the primary means of raising revenue to pay for it. In that context, an old plan must look better than no plan at all.

 

National Post