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Studies under way for ELGV wind farm
By WES KELLER Freelance Reporter
A mostly supportive crowd of about 100 East Luther Grand
Valley residents heard Monday night that Windrush Energy would
hope to have two 10- megawatt wind farms online at Ashton
Ridge by 2008.
But Windrush president John Pennie would not narrow the
opening date down beyond that, except to say that he expects
the first of two six-turbine sites to be completed by the
summer of 2007, with the second one following a year later.
Ashton Ridge is off County 25 a few miles north of Grand
Valley, generally on a rise across the road from Summer Place.
Monday's meeting was part of the environmental screening
(ESR) process. Construction cannot begin until the ministry of
Environment has approved the screening report. And, said Mr.
Pennie, the demand for alternative energy is such that turbine
supply is barely keeping up with demand. Thus, wind farms are
faced with two hurdles: environmental approval and
availability of turbines.
Prior to Monday, Mr. Pennie, with the support of Ashton
Ridge resident and Orangeville Hydro manager George Dick, had
been in consultation with ELGV council and with neighbours of
the proposed site from early 2005.
The council had included wind farms in its Official Plan,
and Mr. Pennie says all 28 neighbouring landowners had given
him memos of assent. The council meetings had also been a part
of the ESR process, and all had been open to the public.
The two small wind farms will function under the provincial
Standard Offer Contract for electrical generation of no more
than 10 megawatts. Each turbine proposed for Ashton Ridge has
a "nameplate" rating of 1.5 MW.
From a taxation point of view, the province had placed an
assessment cap of $40,000 on each turbine, and the industrial
tax rate is applied.
In addition to the assessment, Mr. Pennie said he has
agreed to pay the township $5,000 annually per turbine and to
deliver the equivalent of free electricity to the adjoining
properties.
Although the power generated must go into the local grid,
Mr. Pennie said his plan is to pay the neighbours money to
offset their energy costs, "up to a certain limit." He did not
specify what that limit would be, but did acknowledge the need
for wind farms to earn a return on investment.
(The Standard Offer Contract generators are paid a greater
amount per kilowatt hour than the larger wind farms.)
Although there are U.S. Government studies of 10 states
which indicate that wind farms have a positive effect on
property values, during the consultation process Mr. Pennie
commissioned a local study of real estate values.
According to Blake, Matlock, Marshall appraisers, property
values in Melancthon Township increased by 38 per cent between
2002 and 2006, and 29 per cent in East Luther Grand Valley in
the same period.
"I commissioned the local study because people were telling
me that the U.S. studies would not apply here. It's obvious
that the Melancthon turbines did not detract from property
values."
In addition to the Ashton Ridge projects, Windrush has
another local project in the works - a single turbine at
Orangeville for a local industry.
Mr. Pennie declined to identify the industry or the
proposed location of the 1.5 MW generator.
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