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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2015-02-25, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, February 25, 2015 www.clintonnewsrecord.com NewsCl Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company MARIE DAVID Sun Media Group Publisher - Grey Bruce Huron Division 519-364-2001 or 519-372-4301 NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca TARA OSTNER Reporter clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative cl i nton. ads@sunmedia.ca TERESA SMITH Front Office clinton.classifieds@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services ata wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad- vertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada Al ocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Letters to the editor Documentary on wind turbines to be aired Dear Editor: There is an opportunity to view a pre-screening of the documentary, Big Wind coming up. This documentary was produced in association with TVO and con- tains considerable local content. It touches on many of the concerns shared by residents of Ontario with respect to the wind turbine devel- opment phenomena in our province. All parties in this discussion - wind developers, municipalities, leaseholders, proponents, oppo- nents and provincial authorities - were included. Big Wind will be aired on TVO in late March. There are two preliminary screenings in our area: at St. Helen's Hall (85656 St. Helen's Line at Belfast Road) on Fri., Feb. 27 at 7:15 p.m. and at the Colborne School (37020 School Road, three km north of Benmiller) on Fri., March 6 at 7:15 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and encouraged to view this docu- mentary. Donations at the door. If you are planning to attend the Col- borne School pre-screening RSVP to ninerubies@hurontel.on.ca or 519-529-7711 by Tues., March 3. Dave Hemingway, president Anita Frayne, secretary/treasurer On Behalf of SWEAR can 1-866-734-9425 or visit wwvaniedicaierl.ca. ADMedielskrt Lek Yam Live Life, Letters to the editor Group wants province to curtail wind turbine projects To the Editor: Ontario electricity ratepayers continue to watch with alarmed disbelief as their hydro bills skyrocket. The media repeatedly show examples of adverse impacts to our manufacturing industry, commercial enterprise, agricul- tural viability, and of families forced to choose between pay- ing utility bills and buying gro- ceries. As an organization rep- resenting a dozen municipalities, we areverydis- turbed at the rapidly increasing cost of electricity. Much of this increase must be attributed to the introduc- tion of renewables -particularly wind energy. A policy to rapidly install wind turbines as a major part of the Ontario electrical scene was rushed through without adequate analysis or examination, justified by an ideology rather than a compre- hensive business case. The gov- ernment overnment over -generously con- tracted to pay renewable energy producers significantly higher rates than the market price. Our electricity has now become the most expensive in North America, seriously threatening our prosperity. Ontario's Auditor General has pointed outthatwe pay twice for wind energy. Its inter- mittency and unpredictability prevent it from being a depend- able base load source of power Since itis mainly produced at times and seasons of low demand and is frequently unavailable during peak consumption it is a mis- match for Ontario's energy needs. The variability of wind makes it necessary to maintain an alternate source of genera- tion available forwhenwind drops, especially during the increasing morning demand. When the oversupply of wind energy is not needed at night, other baseload generators such as hydro and nuclear have to be curtailed, but maintained avail- able to return to service when wind generation falls. The requirement to build and sup- ply gas generators which canbe run up when wind output falls has already added significantly to consumer bills. These costs will increase as more already contracted wind turbines become operational. Howwasteful is wind energy? • When variable wind is added to other steady base load generators, it can result in unu- tilized base load generation on many nights. The system oper- ators must either curtail gener- ation, or sell excess generation at prices below the cost of pro- duction, or both. Should Ontario electricity consumers be subsidizingNewYorkand Michigan? • Because the ideology - based policy gives preference to wind, the wind power is only partly curtailed. What is hap- pening far too often now is that cheaper, 000.0O2 producing nuclear and hydraulic base load generators are being curtailed: nuclear units are dumping steam and hydraulic generating stations spilling water. Curtailment costs are substantial and they are increasing each year. Now Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has issued a RFP to add another 300MWofwindpower Whywas no action taken when the Auditor General's 2011 report specifically warned of all these mismanagement issues? Ontario needs an eco- nomicallyviable energy policy, not one based on unrealistic ideology. We are calling on the Gov emment of Ontario and the IESO to make a sober re-evalu- ation of the damage current energy policy is doing to our economy. We believe spiraling elec- tricity costs urgently need to be halted. We are requesting full objective third -party cost - benefit analysis before there is any further procurement of wind or solar capacity. We stress that it is incum- bent on the IESO and the Government of Ontario to ensure that electricity pro- curement contracts are awarded to the lowest cost provider capable of aligning real time generation with the requirements of the Ontario grid. Mark Davis, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Arran-Elderslie Chair, Multi -municipal Wind Turbine Working Group LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters can be sent care of the Internet at clinton.news@ sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL 1LO. CLINTON NEWS RECORD — HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-482-3443 • FAX: 519-482-7341 www.clintonnewsrecord.com