Premier Gary Doer was pressed by delegates at the recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual meeting to explain the delay in announcing which wind farm proposals already tabled will receive approval.
With the province’s stated commitment since 2005 to add 1,000 megawatts of wind generation in the next decade, many municipalities are keen to emulate the success of the 99 MW project operating in St. Leon.
Stewart Lewis, a councillor in the Rural Municipality of Odanah, asked the premier if there would be a firm date for an announcement on the 84 proposals submitted by 17 companies earlier this year.
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“The dates have come and gone for when we were supposed to hear some announcements,” he said. “I wonder if you can give us a firm date on when there will be an announcement.”
In late July, Manitoba Hydro chief Bob Brennan stated that sorting through the applications and creating a short list would take “a couple of months.”
Doer replied that Manitoba Hydro needs more time to study whether the proposals are workable.
“Hydro is analyzing the bids in terms of the cost and revenues that will be required,” he said. “I think that they are going back to some of the proponents to have them sharpen their pencils because the numbers won’t work.
“One of the advantages we have in Manitoba is that we have lots of potential wind. One of the disadvantages for wind is that we have cheaper power than any other place. They have to reconcile wind as a backup with hydro costs. So I can’t give you a date.”
Despite the province repeatedly stating that an announcement is imminent, there has been no movement on the issue for months, said David Huggill, Western Canada policy manager for the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
“I would suggest that when you leave this room, you all phone Manitoba Hydro and ask them what the holdup is,” Huggill said.
“There are some players who are quite prepared to walk away from Manitoba because there are other jurisdictions that are embracing this industry.”
Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are moving on wind farm proposals, he said, noting that installed wind power capacity in Canada, roughly 1,670 MW as of October, is set to triple within five years, overtaking natural gas as an electrical generation source by 2012.
David Neufeld, director of community planning services for Manitoba intergovernmental affairs, said meeting the goal of 1,000 MW of wind power would generate up to $2 billion in investment in the province, $100 million in wind rights payments to landowners, and $150 million in property taxes for municipalities.
“Municipalities that have done their homework are going to be in the best position to capitalize on this opportunity,” said Neufeld, adding that 30 municipalities have already made some zoning provisions for wind farms.
Normand Mabon, a landowner in St. Leon, said the 63 turbines in the project provide annual property tax savings worth $150 a year for each homeowner and $1 per acre for farmers in the RMs of Lorne and Pembina. Each turbine is worth $12,243 a year in tax revenue, he added.
Salaries paid locally by Algonquin Power to its employees amount to $600,000 a year in new money coming to the area, in addition to the $350,000 going to farmers who have turbines on their land.
Overall, wind power brings direct payments worth more than $2.1 million a year to the tiny community, he said.
St. Leon panel representative Paul Grenier said his community’s experience with the project has been overwhelmingly positive.
Concerns about noise have been overstated, he added, with the only sound a “whoosh-whoosh” that reminds him of the ocean.
As for destroying the landscape’s beauty, he said the giant turbines are replacing the grain elevators that used to dominate the skyline.
