First permit approved for local wind power development
By Gary Rusak
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Peace River Block Daily News
Land and Water British Columbia has finally approved the first permit for the Peace Energy Co-operative to begin working towards a wind farm on the Bear Mountain Ridge just southwest of Dawson Creek.
"It has been quite exciting," said Bill Studley, general manager of the co-op. "Basically our next step is to survey the area to find the best place to put the monitoring equipment."
The investigative use permit took the co-op almost a year of legal wrangling to secure. With help from South Peace MLA Blair Lekstrom, former manager David Kidd and more than a little patience, the group persevered.
"It has been quite a ride," said Studley. "This permit is the light at the end of what's been a long tunnel. We are ready to get things moving."
On the bureaucratic side of things the group must now file for a license of occupation and a final long-term development permit, but for the time being Studley is happy with the Peace Energy's progress.
"We are probably two years away from having the wind park permanently set up," he said. "We still have to do the monitoring and then the environmental assessment, but at this point things are looking really good."
Bear Mountain has been identified as a prime location for a wind power production by various studies including one released by BC Hydro late last year. The group believes that the site could hold up to 50 towers and possibly produce 50 megawatts, a significant amount of power.
"We will soon open negotiations with B.C. Hydro to get a test turbine hooked up to the grid," said Studley adding that Peace Energy would be the first to have a wind turbine in British Columbia feeding ?green power' into B.C.'s power grid.
As well, the co-op is looking to partner with a bigger firm to help them develop the wind power site.
"We are in negotiations with several companies," he said. "I would expect that we would have another announcement in the next couple weeks."
Maybe the biggest immediate spin-off for the group has been a marked increase in membership since the permit was awarded.
"It has been amazing," said Studley. "We are right now at about 125 members but if you call me back in an hour it will probably go up by two or three."
See also:
Land and Water BC, May 19 2004
8013937 Peace Energy location map
Blair Lekstrom, NLA, Hansard, March 1 2004, Page 34, line 1720 & following
I have a group of interested people in my area. Peace Energy is the name of the organization, and they're working on wind generation right now. There's a place in Peace River South not far from Dawson Creek called Bear Mountain. I have to smile when I say that. It's not a big mountain, but it's called Bear Mountain. It's one of the best locations for wind generation available in British Columbia today, and there's a lot of work and a lot of interest in that site right now. Again, I'm working with some groups, and hopefully, we'll see something transpire in the near future so that we can lead and possibly be world leaders again with opportunities that expand, for communities to be fully self-sufficient as far as power generation goes. You can just put your mind to it, and the thoughts are endless as to what we can achieve with that.
www.dawsoncreek.ca, Volume 1 2004
BEAR MOUNTAIN WIND FARM
Peace Energy has had their application to secure a lease for Bear Mountain Wind Farm welcomed by the Ministry of Land and Water BC. They should know shortly if the application is acceptable and then another 140 days to actually award the lease. Bear Mountain has been identified as a prime location for a wind power production by various studies including one recently released by BC Hydro. Peace Energy Group believes the site could hold up to 50 towers. If Peace Energy is awarded the lease, their next step would be to secure a partner who would help finance the project. Peace River Block Daily News