Ranchers fear losses from project
COMMENT: BC's nascent wind energy developers evidently have to learn about public consultation, just like any other project proponents. The benign nature of the technology and project implementations is not immediately evident to many citizens, and it's certainly not understood by them as it is by the engineers and wind evangelists who have been immersed in it for years.
One tip the wind guys might take from the government and industry coalbed methane book: take residents and concerned citizens on a road trip. Let them see some wind installations, and meet people just like themselves who can speak first hand to the issues.
Government has paid to do many community information sessions promoting coalbed methane, and it has funded one or more of those junkets, again, for coalbed methane. Doesn't the wind sector have every right to expect the same treatment?
$140 million wind energy proposal will damage grazing areas if approved, they say
By Bruce Constantineau
Vancouver Sun
January 18, 2007
B.C. ranchers fear a proposed wind energy project near Chetwynd will cause major losses to their cattle operations by damaging summer grazing areas.
"We know we'll suffer a loss, it's just a question of how much," Mount Wartenbe rancher Monique Drinkall said in an interview. "Are we going to lose calves [after the project is built]? Are they going to get separated because they don't know where to go?"
Victoria-based Dokie Wind Energy Inc. wants to build a 70.5-megawatt wind energy operation on Wartenbe Ridge, about 10 km southeast of Chetwynd. The $140-million project received its approvals are required before it can go ahead.
The BC Cattlemen's Association has written a letter to the Peace River Regional District and several provincial ministers over concerns the project could displace ranching interests on Mount Wartenbe, Table Top Mountain, and Misery Ridge.
But Dokie Wind Energy president Ron Percival said only 12 cows will be displaced by the 10 hectares of Crown land the wind turbines will occupy.
"We're talking about taking up one per cent of the Crown land in question," he said in an interview. "We want to work with the [ranchers] to improve the capacity of the range. It's Crown land to be shared among many stakeholders."
Percival said the company has had 20 hours of meetings with the ranchers, but the two sides can't seem to agree on the issues.
Drinkall said it has been hard to get straight answers from Dokie Wind Energy, which doesn't seem to know exactly where the turbines will be located.
The timetable on the Wartenbe project is unclear because the company still doesn't have a contract to sell the power to BC Hydro, although it might obtain one this year.
But it expects to begin construction by late spring on a separate wind energy project located about 40 km west of Chetwynd. Dokie Wind Energy has a contract to sell 180 megawatts of power to BC Hydro annually, and completion of the project is expected by the end of 2009.
Percival understands the ranchers' concerns, but insists wind turbines are totally compatible with grazing animals.
"Go to Montana or Texas or Washington or California and you'll find cattle and turbines together," he said. "The cattle don't see them, and they don't care.
"Outside of B.C., the people who promote wind development are largely ranchers, and they're lined up to get projects done because having turbines on their ranches generates revenue."
Percival said his company has hired five agrologists who will try to meet with the affected ranchers this spring.
Chetwynd Mayor Evan Saugstad agrees the two sides can co-exist if they want to.
"The problem is they got off on the wrong foot and didn't really talk to each other at first," he said. "That can be a very hard thing to overcome."
Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 19 Jan 2007