(We don’t think so)

Anyone doing the math when reading proposals for new industrial wind power sites in Ontario, in response to the IESO’s Long-Term-2-Request For Proposals (LT2-RFP), will notice one thing: the wind turbines proposed are more powerful than what we’ve seen before.

A lot more powerful.

While the most powerful turbines to date were those at Nation Rise/Crysler, new ones are more than 5 megawatts.

What does that mean?

Up to now, the noise emissions from wind turbines have been regulated by using distance or “setbacks”. Audible noise, or noise you can hear, dissipates with distance. (At present Ontario’s setbacks are inadequate on this score.)

But the new turbines are much more powerful. Here’s what an acoustics specialist and university professor in Sweden says:

“If you’re interested in how sound propagates over a large area of several square kilometres, only low-frequency sound, particularly infrasound, will remain. It passes through walls and noise barriers, and can be felt without being heard. High-frequency sound, on the other hand, is effectively attenuated in the atmosphere.”

In other words, infrasound is sound pressure that is not necessarily heard; it has a frequency below 20 Hz, thought to be the limit of human hearing. But it is sound pressure and can still be perceived by humans and animals.

Wind Concerns Ontario recently wrote to the Ministers of Energy, Environment, and Health in Ontario, asking if they would review the current situation where more powerful turbines are being proposed and assure us that their regulations will protect the people of Ontario.

Because right now, they don’t.

Here’s what we said:

[Letter to Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, August 15, 2025]

“As you know, the Ontario government repealed the Green Energy Act in 2019, revoking many of the changes made to 21 pieces of Ontario legislation. What that did not do, however, was return authority for any health impacts from operating wind turbines and associated infrastructure—which is a public health issue—to the Ministry of Health.

We have a major concern with events currently rolling out in Ontario, related to health. The IESO has launched its LT2-RFP and wind power proposals are being developed, with a deadline of October 16 for submission. We have received multiple emails expressing concern about new wind power projects because of the higher power levels being proposed for these industrial wind turbines, and the potential for health effects, over and above what we have already seen in the province from turbines built since 2006 under the McGuinty and Wynne governments. Some of these letters come from engineers, acoustics experts, and people involved in public health.

While the most powerful wind turbines to date in Ontario are those at Crysler at about 3.4 megawatts, new proposals feature wind turbines with power levels greater than 5 megawatts. For example, the Capstone proposal for Chatham-Kent presents turbines 6.6 megawatts or more; a smaller project in Oxford County is also presenting turbines at 6 megawatts.

The subject of the greater power levels came up recently at a council meeting for South West Oxford when a councillor asked the wind power developer representative whether the new, more powerful wind turbines would make more noise. To his credit, he did not try to skim over the issue, or say that there would be no problem. Instead, he said, “I don’t know.” While his honesty is appreciated, I submit that that is not good enough for the people of Ontario.

Right now, a wind power developer is presenting the now outdated 2014 Health Canada study on wind turbines and noise as “evidence” that there is no risk of noise pollution and health impacts from industrial wind turbines. Problem: the study does show health impacts but more important, the turbines studied were significantly lower in power rating that turbines being presented today, and the authors of that study expressly said the conclusions were to be used as information only, and not to be applied to any other wind power sites other than those studied. To be presenting this 11-year-old document now is a gross misrepresentation on the part of the developer (Capstone Energy).

Last year, during an IESO “engagement” webinar where the MECP was a co-presenter, the IESO meeting host asked the MECP whether there were problems with noise from wind turbines in Ontario. The IESO was assured there are not. We question the accuracy of this statement when we have internal MECP documents of thousands of noise and incident reports, as well as internal correspondence about noise pollution.

Audible noise has been a problem for some Ontario families, as it can result in sleep disturbance which then leads to other health impacts. It has already been acknowledged that Ontario regulations are flawed in that they rely on audible sound only, and then only a narrow range. To quote the Council of Canadian Academies, commissioned by Health Canada to look at the problem of wind turbine noise,

“Standard methods of measuring sound may not capture the low-frequency sound and amplitude modulation characteristic of wind turbine noise. Measurement of sound for health surveillance and research uses standard methods. The most commonly used methods include A-weighting, which emphasizes the frequencies according to human hearing sensitivity, and de emphasizes low and very high frequencies. Although A-weighted measurement is an essential method, it may fail to capture the low-frequency components of wind turbine sound. In addition, measurement is often averaged over time (Leq), which does not convey changes in sound pressure levels occurring in short periods (for example, within a second). Time-averaged measurement may thus fail to capture amplitude modulation.”

In Ontario, one municipality undertook a study because of the problems being experienced by its residents living close to wind power generating sites. The epidemiologist, Dr. Erica Clark, noted these health effects:

· Exposure to industrial wind turbines is associated with annoyance. Over time, annoyance may lead to adverse health effects, however, the causal pathway from annoyance to adverse health effects is complex and not well understood

· Exposure to industrial wind turbines may be associated with sleep disturbance  

In her conclusion, Dr. Clark made this statement in her report:

“Analysis of study participants confirmed an association between wind turbine [noise] exposure and annoyance. Of participating households within one kilometre of at least one turbine, 58% had at least one person reporting they were bothered, disturbed or annoyed* by noise or light from wind turbines. …It is likely that Ontario public health units will continue to be asked to examine potential health hazards which the Ontario Ministry of Health does not have the legislative authority to regulate.”

She then went on to suggest that more monitoring and research should be done, related to the issue of wind turbine noise.

More recently, when faced with the prospect of more wind turbines, the Town of Mapleton took the unprecedented step of conducting its own survey of residents. Mapleton has had wind turbines for more than ten years. The results of the survey showed that one-third of residents experienced health effects they attribute to the wind turbine noise, and fully 70 percent of the residents felt negatively about the wind turbines as a result of all the impacts (e.g., shadow flicker, property value loss, etc.).

What acoustics and health professionals are telling us is, the greater risk to health is from low frequency noise or LFN, which is less detectable by the human ear. Fact: Ontario’s current regulations do not measure or allow for LFN. (We have documentation from 2010, an internal document from the then Ministry of the Environment or MOE which says in fact, staff were directed not to consider any noise emissions as tonal or LFN.)

The extreme of LFN is infrasound which is created each time a turbine blade passes the tower. As it involves frequencies less than 20 HZ it is not captured in most assessments of wind turbine noise emissions.  It is not heard by the people affected but rather, is felt as a vibration in various parts of the body.

Scientists in New Zealand, among many others, characterize LFN as a “contentious” and “well documented effect” of wind turbines. Low frequency noise has the following characteristics, according to Phipps et al of Massey University:

• low frequency noise is not attenuated with distance from the source, making low frequency

noise more prominent at greater distances

• low frequency noise is not attenuated by typical building envelope designs to the same

extent as other frequencies making low frequency more prominent inside a building

and

• low frequency noise can cause light weight elements of a building structure to vibrate.

These findings are critical to Ontario because current regulations for wind turbines apply for audible noise only, and are based on a sound power measurement at the source, and supposedly mitigated by distance.

The problem with the new wind turbines is that the greater power levels mean more LFN. Two professors in Sweden are currently offering sound mapping models to power developers to help them avoid developing projects that will create problematic LFN and affect both people and livestock nearby the wind power sites. Professor Ken Mattson confirmed in a recent interview, “as today’s wind turbines get bigger, they make more noise, especially in the low frequencies.” The professors expressly say their aim is to help developers design “legally secure” projects, by which they mean there is acknowledged legal liability in developing a power project that you know may cause harm.

Our concerns are:

>Ontario regulations for sound emissions from wind turbines were already inadequate and have not been reviewed or updated since 2009; and

>Current proposals feature industrial wind turbines of much greater power levels, which are acknowledged to have the potential for harm from LFN.

The responsibility for this legislation currently lies with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, but our hope is that your ministry will review this very serious issue. What is needed is a solid review of wind turbine noise emission including the impact of low frequency noise, and at the long-term impact of exposure to audible noise affecting sleep, with a view to planning new regulations that will protect the health of Ontario rural residents.

The timing is critical, as proposals are in development now, with new contracts to be awarded in less than eight months. “

Anyone attending “information sessions” with power developers or communicating with them, or local elected representatives, MUST bring up the topic of infrasound and the new wind turbines.

Demand that your questions be answered; demand protection.

Wind Concerns Ontario