Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: PROPOSED “BLUE HIGHLANDS” WIND FARM PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING August 24, 2003 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Project Description • Covers approximately 4,500 acres in The Town of the Blue Mountains and The Municipality of Grey Highlands. • Runs from just north of Banks south to about Grey Road 4, roughly straddling the 4th line in Blue Mountains and Sideroad 30/63 in Grey Highlands. • Up to 67 tower/turbines structures, each approximately 400 feet in height. • Significant related infrastructure, including: • access roads which can handle approximately 60 ton loads • additional transmission lines (either above or below grade) • substations Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

The Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition • Citizens (both local residents and others) who have concerns about the impact of the proposed development on the Escarpment, the community and economic activity in the area. • Initial concerns were with (i) Recommendation 102 of the Ontario Legislative Assembly’s Select Committee on Alternative Fuels, and (ii) incompatibility of the proposed development with protection for the Escarpment. • Further principal concerns are with (i) accurate and complete information dissemination, and (ii) possible elimination of the environmental screening process applicable to this project. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing shall amend the Planning Act by December 31, 2002 to apply a provincial standard to zoning for windfarms/wind turbines and solar energy systems to make them immune from local municipal prohibition, and thereby allowed across Ontario “as of right”. Source: Report of Select Committee on Alternative Fuels, 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

The Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.N.2: Section 2: The purpose of this Act is to provide for the maintenance of the Niagara Escarpment and land in its vicinity substantially as a continuous natural environment, and to ensure only such development occurs as is compatible with that natural environment. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Activities of the Coalition to Date 1. Recommendation 102 For the time being, this recommendation appears to be on the Government’s “back burner”. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Activities of the Coalition to Date 2. Niagara Escarpment Protection We remain very concerned about this issue and SWEI’s continuing efforts to have tower/turbine installations permitted on NEP area lands. We are preparing written submissions to both the Niagara Escarpment Commission and the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment regarding this issue. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Activities of the Coalition to Date 3. Public Information Meetings June 20, 2003 (Thornbury) August 24, 2003 (Feversham) Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Activities of the Coalition to Date 4. Environmental Screening Process The Ontario Government has proposed increasing the environmental screening threshold for proposed wind farm developments from the current 2 MW level up to 100 MW. If the threshold is increased, the proposed Blue Highlands project could be freed from any environmental screening requirements. The Coalition opposes the proposed threshold increase, and made written submissions to the Ministry of Environment before the public comment period expired on August 2, 2003. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Activities of the Coalition to Date 5. Georgian Triangle Development Institute 5th Annual Conference: October 2, 2003. The Coalition will speak at the Institute’s annual conference, addressing the proposed Blue Highlands wind farm development in the context of the Ontario Government’s “SMART GROWTH” initiative. Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

SCALE OF THE PROJECT Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: Source: AWEA & CanWEA Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #1 - King Mountain Wind Ranch - Upton County, TX Source: Renewable Energy Systems

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #3 & #16 - Stateline Wind Project - Washington State Source: Renewable Northwest Project

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #4, #6 & #14 - Altamont Pass, California Source: Aaron Brown's Photo Albums

#4, #6 & #14 - Altamont Pass, California Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: Source: Aaron Brown's Photo Albums

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #5 - Pecos County, Texas (Desert Sky) Source: Desert Sky Wind Project

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #7 - Woodward Mountain I & II - Pecos County, Texas Source: Renewable Energy Systems

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #7 - Woodward Mountain I & II - Pecos County, Texas Source: FPL Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #8 - Trent Mesa, Texas Source: Trent Mesa Wind Project

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #8 - Trent Mesa, Texas Source: GE Wind Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #9 & #18 - Storm Lake/Buena Vista & Cherokee Counties - Iowa Source: GE Wind Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #10 - Gray County - Kansas Source: FPL Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #11 - Lake Benton I - Minnesota Source: GE Wind Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #12 - Lake Benton II - Minnesota Source: FPL Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: # 13 - Hancock County - Garner, Iowa Source: FPL Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: # 15 - Mojave - Tehachapi, California Source: Windland Inc.

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: # 17 - Pecos County (Indian Mesa) - Texas Source: Wild Texas

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: # 19 - Worth County - Iowa Source: Zilkha Renewable Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: #20 - Llano Estacado Wind Ranch, Texas Source: Cielo Wind Power

Workers Blade 112’ long Nacelle 56 tons Tower 3 sections Source: Trent Mesa Wind Project

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: Source: GE Wind Energy

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: These construction workers are putting the framework in place for pouring the concrete base of a turbine. Those huge steel pipes in the background are the concrete forms, which are dropped into holes 15 to 25 feet deep and then filled. The concrete takes 17-28 days to set. Source: Renewable North West Project

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: Ontario’s Developable Wind Resource Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “Ontario’s potential developable wind resource exceeds 35,000 Megawatts.” Source: The Electricity Forum (article by Claude Mindorff), SWEI Business Development Manager Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “Our studies indicate that there are about 1,500 square kilometres of commercial grade wind land in Ontario. What does “1,500 square kilometres” mean? At 0.2 kilometres per megawatt, that means... 7,500 megawatts of potential. The offshore resource is much larger.” Source: David Boileau’s presentation to Ontario Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Alternative Fuels, February 18, 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “Provincially, Ontario has the potential for more than 6,000 MW of wind energy production.” Source: Superior Wind Energy Inc. brochure Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: If Ontario’s land-based developable wind resource is 6,000 MW, then the 100 MW project proposed for the Blue Highlands area will exploit only 1.66% of the total resource. 98.34% of the resource would remain. Source: Superior Wind Energy Inc. brochure Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “So what have we got? We’ve got 2,000 kilometres of coastline on the windy side of the Great Lakes and we have strong prevailing southwest winds. Our highland areas of the province also have good wind values. Our highlands are more extensive than what you think, particularly around the Sault Ste. Marie and Lake Superior areas.” Source: David Boileau’s presentation to Ontario Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Alternative Fuels, February 18, 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “Coming back to this number here, 7,500, I should tell you that, like water power, not every wind site is going to get developed. There are some nice water power sites in Ontario that have higher and better use – canoeing, kayaking, tourism viewing, whatever it happens to be. Those projects probably shouldn’t be developed for water power because there’s a higher and better use. If you’ve got a nice community on a ridge line where people from Toronto have built $300,000 cottages and you tell them that you’re going to put up 50 wind towers on that ridge, you’re changing an aspect of their lives that they’ve gotten used to, and I’m not suggesting that’s going to happen. Unwise developers will pursue those developments. Where there’s tight competition for land, they’re going to run into problems.” Source: David Boileau’s presentation to Ontario Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Alternative Fuels, February 18, 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “[Superior Wind Energy] has determined that Ontario has a good wind resource and that the market may soon be ready for serious windpower development. Superior Wind’s strategy is to pursue large-scale development… The contemplated projects will use tall towers and large machines, 1.5 MW or greater, to take advantage of the better wind speeds higher up” Source: IPPSO FACTO, August 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas Katherine Haig: “At a minimum, the [federal government] program funding needs to be doubled. As well, the rules governing annual funding allocations, provincial quotas and declining incentive payments need to be rationalized to encourage timely large-scale development of the lowest cost sites.” Source: David Boileau, quoted in IPPSO FACTO, August 2002 Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition www.bhcc.ca Local Control/Responsible and Informed Decision-Making

Katherine Haig: King Mountain Wind Ranch - Texas