With potential new wind turbine proposals coming in the New Year, Ontario will make the same mistakes all over again without changes to important regulations for noise limits and setbacks

December 18, 2024

The Ontario government must enact new regulations for industrial-scale or grid-scale wind turbines immediately, says Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of community groups and families concerned about the negative impacts of wind power. The group wrote a letter Tuesday to Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Andrea Khanjin to request change.

With a new Request For Proposals for power generation coming soon from the Independent Electricity System Operator or IESO, new proposals for wind turbines could be coming too, says WCO, and that means more noisy wind turbines too close to people.

“It’s been acknowledged that the wind power rush under the McGuinty-Wynne governments made mistakes,” says WCO president Jane Wilson. “Even a former energy minister, Glenn Thibault, said that errors had been made in siting the industrial wind power sites. But no changes have been made to wind turbine noise limits or setbacks from homesthe same mistakes will be repeated.”

The existing regulations were passed by the McGuinty government in 2009 along with the Green Energy Act. That Act was repealed by the Ford government in 2018, but the regulations have not been revised.

In the15 years since the original Act, designed to spur wind power development, the Ontario government has received thousands of noise complaints, WCO says, and countless jurisdictions around the world have established much greater setbacks for wind turbines.

“It’s time to move on,” says Wilson. “We know absolutely there have been problems with wind turbines, which is why there are 157 municipalities in Ontario that have declared themselves Unwilling Hosts to new wind power projects. They know what the problems are, and they don’t want them.”

In comments filed with the IESO by the municipal coalition the Multi-Municipal Energy Working Group, Chair Tom Allwood wrote [emphasis ours]:

“It is clear from the feedback from our residents that the current setbacks between wind turbines and residents is not sufficient as a significant number of our residents living close to the turbines have identified irritation and health impacts. Details of these issues were also provided to the MECP and the project operator through formal complaints under the process set out in the Renewable Energy Approvals for the projects. There has been virtually no response to these concerns. The derived 550-metre setback was based on audible turbine sound output of early 2000s. In response to this situation, other jurisdictions have increased required setbacks. Larger turbines currently being used also have greater low frequency component and the setback needs to be based on the full turbine sound power profile.

“Municipalities know that current setbacks do not protect residents and are resisting new installations until they are fixed. While setbacks are within the authority of the MECP, it would be to the benefit of the IESO to get these changed.”

And just in the last few days, Christopher Ollson PhD, a person much relied on by the wind power industry and the environment ministry as an expert witness at Environmental Review Tribunals to disavow any ill effects from wind turbine noise emissions, spoke at a public meeting in Saskatchewan about a proposed new project. He is reported to have said this:

“There are certainly older projects, primarily in the U.S., some in Canada, where turbines were, quite frankly, sited too close.”

He also now confirms health impacts from wind turbine noise emissions, and is reported to have said “research conducted throughout early European projects also verifies this close-proximity siting did lead to health concerns. However, over the last 20 years, there has been more research done to inform the industry on what proper setbacks and proper selection look like.” 

A new project being proposed by Enbridge in Saskatchewan, will have setbacks of 1500 metres, which the developer imposed in response to community concerns. Other jurisdictions in the U.S. have instituted setbacks as great as two miles, equivalent to 1.6 km.

“There is no time to lose,” Wilson says. “Ontario needs to move with the times and act to protect people and the environment now.”

contact@windconcernsontario.ca

Read the letter to Minister Khanjin here: