Foot-dragging on wind farms irksome

ST. JOSEPH, Man.—The province’s newest wind farm near St. Joseph has been delayed, and rural politicians are getting frustrated with what they say is Manitoba Hydro’s foot-dragging.
Meanwhile, the Australian company that’s backing construction of the new wind farm has been plagued by financial problems, and a Manitoba wind powerhouse snubbed by Hydro earlier this year has taken their business south of the border.

Sequoia, which helped develop Manitoba’s first and only wind farm in St. Leon, is looking for regulatory approval to build a $300-million project near Rolla, N.D. It’s part of about $1 billion in investment the company is making in that state, according to company officials.
“We’re a little ticked,” said Killarney Mayor Rick Pauls, whose town partnered with Sequoia on a wind farm proposal Hydro rejected. “A Manitoba company is building a wind farm three miles south of the border and we can’t get one built here.
“It’s too bad.”
Instead of the Killarney project and 82 others, Hydro in April chose the St. Joseph site proposed by Calgary-based BowArk Energy and Australian mega-company Babcock and Brown.
In the meantime, Babcock and Brown has been badly battered by the global economic downtown and has sold off many of its assets. And the proponents of the St. Joseph project have been unable to reach a formal power purchasing deal with Manitoba Hydro—something that was supposed to be finalized by July.
“If we don’t have a contract by the end of the year, we won’t build,” said BowArk president Brad Sparkes. “They’re getting a very attractive price. But for some reason they seem to be waffling on a decision.
“I don’t understand why.”
Roger Vermette, reeve of the rural municipality of Montcalm, whose community will be home to the St. Joseph wind farm, was expecting construction to start this fall. Now it appears building won’t begin until next year.
Hydro acknowledged the negotiations are taking longer than expected, but they are making progress.
Hydro needs to ensure the power it buys from the St. Joseph wind farm won’t be more costly than the resale value on the export market. If that happens, Manitobans would be subsidizing expensive wind power, which makes little sense when the province already has a green and renewable energy source to rely on.
“You don’t do it at any cost,” said Manitoba Hydro spokesman Glenn Schneider. “It has to make sense for our customers.”
The economics of wind farms also make more sense in North Dakota, where there are hefty government subsidies for wind power, energy prices already are high ,and the state is looking to wean itself off dirty coal.
The St. Joseph project would be the second wind farm in the province after the one in St. Leon. At 300 megawatts, St. Joseph would dwarf St. Leon, which is only 99 megawatts.
Critics have said Manitoba is woefully short of turbines even though the province has some of the best wind in North America.
“We’re dragging our feet and the province is falling further and further behind,” said Pauls. “The longer we wait, the more the market shrinks.”