By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter)

Proposed Stirling Wind Farm draws questions from several angles

Oct 27, 2016 | 5:34 PM

STIRLING –  An information session on a proposed wind farm slated for just east of Stirling brought out about 40 concerned area residents Tuesday night.

The residents, two MLA’s and members of the Councils for Lethbridge County and the County of Warner, were greeted by reams of information and strategically placed story boards. Greengate Power, which is behind the project, had company president and CEO Dan Balaban on hand, along with about 10 employees who circulated the room, engaging the attendees and answering questions.

Voices were aired, both for and against the Stirling Wind Project, which Greengate has been working on since 2008.

Company CEO, Dan Balaban, notes this isn’t Greengate’s first foray into wind farming.

“We developed two of the largest wind farms in Alberta – the Halkirk Wind Project, which is near Stettler and the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project near Carmangay in Vulcan County, which is the largest wind energy project in Canada, so we have a successful track record of developing wind in the province and we’re quite serious about moving this project forward as well.”

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The project will incorporate 46 turbines which will produce 113-megawatts of power, with about half of them located in the County of Warner and the other half in Lethbridge County.

Balaban says the timing of the project depends on the details of the provincial government’s renewable energy program, which is currently under development.

“The provincial government has announced its plan to phase out all coal-fired generation by 2030 and replace it with 30 per cent renewables by 2030, so we’re moving this project forward in anticipation of whatever details the government announces to achieve those objectives.”

Greengate has already signed up tens of thousands of acres of farm land but, Balaban says the actual land taken out of use is very low and farmers can continue to farm around the projects. He also noted the company has a unique compensation model, where they pay all landowners within the project area, whether or not they actually get a turbine on their land.

On Tuesday night, many resident concerns centered around noise and wildlife habitat, but Balaban says they are being addressed.

“As part of our project we have to do very extensive environmental studies, we’ve had wildlife biologists in the field doing all sorts of surveys, they identified a number of constraints that we need to work around, but we’re confident that there’s going to be minimal impact on wildlife.”

Balaban says his company is diligent about positioning turbines away from nesting birds and they are required to be set back from wetlands. Municipal guidelines also require specific setbacks. He says the turbines are not allowed to be constructed close to residences, are not permitted to emit noise above a certain level and they also take into account ‘shadow flicker’ and make sure the turbines are not spaced too close together.

The CEO stated there have been numerous studies on wind energy and human health and there has been no proven connection.

Balaban says there is a financial benefit all around.

“These projects provide some significant economic benefits to the local economy – they’re a source of local jobs during construction – 200-plus jobs during construction (a 12 to 18 month period) and 10 to 20 jobs full time during the life of the project (expected to be 25 plus years) will contribute millions of dollars to the local tax base and contribute significant dollars to the local land owners as well.”

However, there is a nagging negative to green energy as noted by Cardston-Taber-Warner Wildrose MLA Grant Hunter – the cost.

“I’m always interested in finding out new projects coming into our riding. Is it going to create some jobs, which Alberta really needs desperately right now? Unfortunately, with the solar plant going in north of Taber and this (Stirling) one, I’m not sure it would be as viable, if the province wasn’t kicking in money, in terms of capital costs and subsidies.”

Hunter said, “We want something that is sustainable – don’t we? But if the only reason why they are coming is because the government is putting money in – is that sustainable? Is that a long term project? These are the questions these companies need to ask as well.”

The Wildrose MLA said it was his understanding that the company will probably get a 20-year contract where they get a cash injection and then they also get a subsidy over 20-years.

“Well, who wouldn’t take that deal? But, who is going to pay for it? The Tax payer is going to pay.”

The other question Hunter had: “Is there universal buy-in? If you can get good universal buy-in, you don’t have to make a big sell job and the NDP government doesn’t have to keep saying this is fantastic for you and they don’t have to spend millions convincing you it’s good.”

Hunter noted he is hearing from a lot of his constituents that the solar farm in Taber will not be sustainable and he feels these projects need more vetting before bull-dozing forward.

For her part, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips sees the project as an important economic development for Southern Alberta.

“Our government has now moved forward with making sure we have the right policy environment to grow renewable energy in a way that is sustainable and makes for job creation and diversification of the economy and making sure that Alberta is doing our part to reduce emissions.”

When pressed on the issue of limited job creation Phillips noted the province is looking at a number of ways to add value to the projects, in terms of assembly of the components for a number of the different initiatives. She says that in order to get the amount of renewables needed to replace phased-out coal fired plants, there will be a reinvestment of the newly implemented carbon tax into more renewables.