Malahide, SW Oxford make 159 municipalities saying NO to wind turbines

No doubt where the crowd stood on the issue of wind turbines in South West Oxford at a packed Council meeting June 12 [Supplied photo]

June 19, 2025

As Ontario draws nearer to the release of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Long-Term 2-Request For Proposals, and wind power proposals are showing up (as of today, five) municipalities are facing community opposition.

And, what they need to do.

In June, Malahide Township Council voted to declare itself an Unwilling Host to new wind power proposals, and on June 17th, South West Oxford followed suit.

Both votes came at the end of vigorous citizen campaigns to inform residents of the new proposals, together with signs, public meetings, media coverage, and plenty of emails and telephone calls to local elected representatives.

It worked.

Councillor Jim Pickard of South West Oxford told a packed out crowd at the council meeting, “I have never seen the people of South West Oxford come together like this, for anything. My inbox is full, and I’ve had people dropping by.”

Pickard then went on to move that SWOX be an Unwilling Host. He got a seconder for the motion almost instantly.

The motion passed, 5-1.

No respect: The IESO process is not appropriate

The Mayor voted against the motion simply to express his opinion that an Unwilling Host declaration had no place in the process. That’s strictly true of course, but as proponents seek willing landowners and communities for new industrial power projects, an Unwilling Host resolution lets power developers know where a community stands.

It’s also an expression of dissatisfaction with the whole IESO process, as expressed by the Township of Malahide previously. Malahide councillors said that municipalities are being asked to provide Municipal Support Resolutions on the scarcest of information. Not appropriate and not respectful they said.

Here’s an excerpt from the South West Oxford motion which details the request for a better process from the IESO. (See the whole resolution here)

AND WHEREAS the procurement of electrical energy is the responsibility of the Province of Ontario;

AND WHEREAS the current Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) procurement process requires a Municipal Support Resolution before an application can proceed, yet provides municipalities with limited information about the full impacts of proposed energy projects at that stage;

AND WHEREAS municipalities are not resourced with the technical expertise or capacity to responsibly assess long-term impacts on agriculture, health, and the environment prior to issuing a Municipal Support Resolution;

AND WHEREAS while the current process mandates an Agricultural Impact Assessment, it is not required until after a contract is issued — leaving municipalities to make premature decisions without adequate information;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Township of South-West Oxford declares itself an “Unwilling Host” for industrial wind turbine projects under the current provincial procurement framework;

AND THAT the Township will not provide Municipal Support Resolutions for any such projects until the procurement process is revised to ensure: 

● Full Agricultural, Health, and Environmental Impact Assessments are completed prior to municipal endorsement;

● Municipalities are provided with adequate data, timelines, and consultation resources to make informed decisions; 

● Local autonomy and planning authority are meaningfully respected in energy project approvals; 

Wind power doesn’t do what they say it does

“It’s really not 2009 anymore, we keep saying to the IESO and government,” says Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson. “People know all too well what wind power projects mean to a community, especially Unwilling Host municipalities which usually already have wind turbines, or an next to communities that do. The impacts are significant. And we also know that wind power is expensive, intermittent, and out of phase with demand.”

As one of the citizen delegates told South West Oxford Council in response to the statement that Ontario needs more power to meet demand, Then you wouldn’t choose wind, because it doesn’t do what you want. “That demand cannot be met by wind turbines.”

The biggest issue in South West Oxford, which has primarily top quality agricultural land, was the loss of prime farm land for food production. It’s a trade-off for power said the speaker from community group South West Oxford and Malahide Say No to Wind Turbines: “It just doesn’t make sense.”

The Council meeting including the presentations may be viewed here.

-Lessons learned from the experience of these community groups and active citizens:

-It’s not a “done deal”

-Communicate with fellow residents

-Communicate (respectfully) with elected representatives and let them know your opinion

-Use economic and environmental info —it’s definitive and it’s on your side

#UnwillingHost

contact@windconcernsontario.ca

The list of Unwilling Host municipalities is here.