A closer look at windpower and the farm

By Tim Kalinowski, Staff Writer

 

With Alberta’s NDP government looking to push for more completions on new wind projects in the near future, many landowners and municipalities are having to deal with almost daily inquiries from wind generating companies seeking to set up shop in the province. Many farmers are concerned about long-term leases, impacts on local ecology and other hassles which may ensue as a result of Alberta’s big push into windpower.

Ontario was one of the first provinces to delve into windpower in Canada, and farmers in Ontario have a longer experience than most with dealing with issues surrounding the construction and maintenance of these wind generating sites.

In 2012 the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) was calling for an outright moratorium on such projects. The organization has moderated its view somewhat since, but many unresolved frictions remain.

“There are, I would say, widely differing opinions on wind generation in Ontario that are kind of polar opposites,” says Ian Nokes, a farm policy researcher on the energy file with the OFA. “There is a strong faction which supports wind generation as clean and renewable. And there is a lot of opposition out in these rural communities saying: ‘Not in my backyard,’ that sort of thing.”

Nokes says much of that polarization is due to these kinds of projects pushing into Ontario’s agricultural lands, which are already under massive pressure from ongoing urban encroachment.

“Our position, supported by our members, is basically that we encourage people to find alternative, renewable, clean sources of electric generation,” explains Nokes.

“But we also have a very limited, finite amount of agricultural land in Ontario. So we don’t support the installation of large scale generation on agricultural lands. Some of our lands that are designated as agricultural lands are not protected from large scale solar, for example. So our policy is to get our members to be active with their municipalities and councils, and try to work with generators to find appropriate sites.”

Health, environmental concerns and sound pollution are also aspects of the debate, acknowledges Nokes, but, at the end of the day, Ontario’s Liberal government also wants to see more wind generation. He knows his members are going to have to focus on finding ways of working with municipalities and generators to get it done in the least harmful way to agriculture.

“The plans at Ontario Hydro are that wind generation will be one of the solutions we have in Ontario. So the bottom line is we have to try to find ways work with the generators, with the local communities and with the councils in those communities to make sure we find the right place to put it.”

In southern and eastern Alberta local municipalities have also been struggling to come up with the right balance to both encourage development of these wind generating sites and protect local interests at the same time.

Trent Caskey, administrator and development officer with Special Areas No. 2, says while there is only one proposed project currently in his region near Jenner, many local landowners are asking the same questions with the upswing in interest from wind companies the past few years.

“It’s more general,” he says. “I haven’t heard anybody from the Jenner area really talk to me about this project at all, outside of some talks about their contracts a little bit. But I tell them I have never seen one, and no one from the companies discusses it with me so I can’t really comment.

“I can say we have yet to see any (wind projects) come about. Over the past eight years we have been hearing about windpower coming to the Special Areas, but we haven’t seen one turbine built yet.”

They have, however, already accounted for the possibility in their land use ordinances.

“Where we have looked at it is in our Land Use Order,” confirms Caskey. “We do have a section of our Land Use Order which covers off wind generation so we just walk that through and work with the company in that respect. I think the setbacks are the biggest thing from our perspective. Setbacks from residents, adjacent lands, road allowances and public property.”

Special Areas administration is also concerned about the potential impact on roads and the long-term consequences of having these generating sites built within the district.

“Some of challenges would probably be to our road infrastructure and is it allowable for these big projects? They are going to have to build a lot of infrastructure to get these towers in and out. We are looking for an abandonment plan when they put forth their land use permit. We do want to know and pass that around and let the landowners know what (state) it is going to be in the end. I do think it is up to the landowners to investigate this on their own, and if there are willing to sign up under those conditions,” states Caskey.

One landowner who probably knows more than most about the tangible effects of setting up major wind power facilities on his land is Doug Smith. Smith farms near Neidpath, Saskatchewan southeast of Swift Current, and his farm is one of several in the area that is home to the SaskPower Centennial Wind Power Facility. About a third of the 83 turbines constructed in the 2006 project are on Smith’s land and they surround his farm yard in all directions.

Smith had many of the same questions being asked by farmers in Alberta today 16 years ago when the project was first proposed. He has had the benefit of being able to hear the answers SaskPower gave him to those questions back then and see the proof in the pudding since.

“The first question you’ll get is how noisy are they?” says Smith. “On this site they brought in equipment to measure sound (levels). It just so happens we have three people who border the project, and in our case the project surrounds us on all sides. So they put sounding devices in our yard: One at the closest tower and one half-way in between. The end results on that is we were obviously the noisiest station in the project and it was 41 decibels.

“That’s about the same as you driving down the road with your windows rolled up. It’s minimal.”

Another concern local landowners had was the effect of the wind farm on local birds and ecology, remembers Smith.

“Another study they did was how many birds (the wind farm) was killing. They spent two years here studying that question. They would do a study every three days and do one tower a day at four sites. They got a couple of horn larks, and at the one site they got a couple of bats over the two years. So the answer they gave me was there was little to no damage on birds.

“With us they didn’t damage the ground hardly at all if you look at the finished project. They had a concern here where they didn’t want to put them on native pasture so they dropped three towers from the original project because of that.”

Impact on the agricultural uses of the land where the wind turbines are on? Smith says its manageable.

“A lot of turbines are within grazing land and the cows lay in the shade of the towers in the summertime, and then keep moving around it as the shade moves. Our saddle horses rub on the ladder going up into the turbine. We didn’t find any disruptions to our operations,” states Smith. “But you have to respect the fact there are roads built in to every tower. They actually lease a five acre block for each tower, but you can seed right up to within four or five metres. The only restriction is when they come in with a crane to do a major repair, if it’s in crop they still lease that five acres. So its at your risk if you seeded.”

Long-term lease agreements? Keep your eyes open and get legal advice when needed, says Smith.

“Every company that puts these up is probably gonna handle it differently. For this project we were paid one year in advance on January 1 of our lease. The contracts we signed were 25 year leases, renewable four times if we wished. There are different kinds contracts that are offered. There were other ones that went on percentage of production. This project never offered that, but we were told with some companies you could get a share on the amount of power that was produced.

“Just make sure the company you are dealing with are not fly-by-night guys. We had a very good relationship with the land agent. He was very articulate and didn’t hide anything. He laid everything on the table. We weren’t over-trusting or anything, but we thought everything he told us made sense.”

Smith says overall dealing with a wind turbine site on your land is a lot like dealing with an oil or gas company well sit on you land. Many of the same rules apply, and it’s entirely your choice whether you allow the companies to build or not.

“I would take advice from the company you are working with. They have a pet way they like to do it, very likely, and they don’t want unhappy people. If you don’t like what they are doing you can tell them at the start, and you don’t have to worry about it. They’ll go around ya.”

“Where we have looked at it is in our Land Use Order,” confirms Caskey. “We do have a section of our Land Use Order which covers off wind generation so we just walk that through and work with the company in that respect. I think the setbacks are the biggest thing from our perspective. Setbacks from residents, adjacent lands, road allowances and public property.”

Special Areas administration is also concerned about the potential impact on roads and the long-term consequences of having these generating sites built within the district.

“Some of challenges would probably be to our road infrastructure and is it allowable for these big projects? They are going to have to build a lot of infrastructure to get these towers in and out. We are looking for an abandonment plan when they put forth their land use permit.

“We do want to know and pass that around and let the landowners know what (state) it is going to be in the end. I do think it is up to the landowners to investigate this on their own, and if there are willing to sign up under those conditions,” states Caskey.

One landowner who probably knows more than most about the tangible effects of setting up major wind power facilities on his land is Doug Smith.

Smith farms near Neidpath, Saskatchewan southeast of Swift Current, and his farm is one of several in the area that is home to the SaskPower Centennial Wind Power Facility. About a third of the 83 turbines constructed in the 2006 project are on Smith’s land and they surround his farm yard in all directions.

Smith had many of the same questions being asked by farmers in Alberta today 16 years ago when the project was first proposed. He has had the benefit of being able to hear the answers SaskPower gave him to those questions back then and see the proof in the pudding since.

“The first question you’ll get is how noisy are they?” says Smith. “On this site they brought in equipment to measure sound (levels). It just so happens we have three people who border the project, and in our case the project surrounds us on all sides.

“So they put sounding devices in our yard: One at the closest tower and one half-way in between. The end results on that is we were obviously the noisiest station in the project and it was 41 decibels. That’s about the same as you driving down the road with your windows rolled up. It’s minimal.”

Another concern local landowners had was the effect of the wind farm on local birds and ecology, remembers Smith.

“Another study they did was how many birds (the wind farm) was killing. They spent two years here studying that question. They would do a study every three days and do one tower a day at four sites. They got a couple of horn larks, and at the one site they got a couple of bats over the two years. So the answer they gave me was there was little to no damage on birds.

“With us they didn’t damage the ground hardly at all if you look at the finished project. They had a concern here where they didn’t want to put them on native pasture so they dropped three towers from the original project because of that.”

What is the impact on the agricultural uses of the land where the wind turbines are on? Smith says its manageable.

“A lot of turbines are within grazing land and the cows lay in the shade of the towers in the summertime, and then keep moving around it as the shade moves. Our saddle horses rub on the ladder going up into the turbine. We didn’t find any disruptions to our operations,” states Smith.“But you have to respect the fact there are roads built in to every tower.

“They actually lease a five acre block for each tower, but you can seed right up to within four or five metres. The only restriction is when they come in with a crane to do a major repair, if it’s in crop they still lease that five acres. So it’s at your risk if you seeded.”

How about long-term lease agreements? Keep your eyes open and get legal advice when needed, says Smith.

“Every company that puts these up is probably gonna  handle it differently. For this project we were paid one year in advance on January 1 of our lease. The contracts we signed were 25 year leases, renewable four times if we wished.

“There are different kinds contracts that are offered. There were other ones that went on percentage of production. This project never offered that, but we were told with some companies you could get a share on the amount of power that was produced.

“Just make sure the company you are dealing with are not fly-by-night guys. We had a very good relationship with the land agent. He was very articulate and didn’t hide anything. He laid everything on the table. We weren’t over-trusting or anything, but we thought everything he told us made sense.”

Smith says overall dealing with a wind turbine site on your land is a lot like dealing with an oil or gas company well site on your land. Many of the same rules apply, but it’s entirely your choice whether you allow the companies to build or not.

“I would take advice from the company you are working with. They have a pet way they like to do it, very likely, and they don’t want unhappy people. If you don’t like what they are doing you can tell them at the start, and you don’t have to worry about it. They’ll go around ya.”