Ontario gives green energy price guarantee

Ontario expects to cover the total cost and provide “a reasonable rate of return” for investments in green energy projects through decades-long contracts with fixed electricity prices.

The government said it is the first program of its kind in North America.

Solar, wind, water, biomass, biogas and landfill gas producers, including individual homeowners, will all be eligible to sell their power to the provincial grid under the program, one of the four final components of the Ontario Green Energy Act announced by Premier Dalton McGuinty Thursday.
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Lake Erie off shore wind turbine opponents urge MoE assessment

A proposal to put 15 wind turbines as close as one kilometre offshore in Lake Erie should require an environmental assessment, Gord Meuser, a spokesman for the group Citizens Against Lake Erie Wind Turbines, said Friday.

SouthPoint Wind has completed its environmental screening report but Meuser said the group will be asking that it be bumped up to an environmental assessment with more studies specifically on Lake Erie and the impacts the turbines could have here. He said there aren’t other freshwater wind turbine projects for comparison.

“We’d be the guinea pig,” Meuser said.
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So, you want to be a municipal politician — don’t miss this one

Good news for those contemplating a run for office in the 2010 municipal election.
A training seminar entitled C. P. O. will be offered on Tuesday, Sept. 8 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Carnegie Room at St. Thomas Public Library.
Lecturing at the event is city historian Ray Galloway, although the info sheet contained in Monday’s city council agenda includes no credentials pertaining to his relevant political background.

Overcoming technical obstacles that hinder growth of wind power

Erie Shores Wind Farm

Whether they are built on land or at sea, nearly all wind turbines have the same technical issues related to the fact that wind is naturally variable. Today the best machines in the best spots now offer about a 35 percent “load factor,” or efficiency level. The largest problem in turbine design is not the blades, but what we can’t see. It’s the guts of the machine—the engineering components housed in the nacelle, or body, of the turbine, which convert that kinetic energy into electricity—that need improvement.
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St. Thomas council agenda for April 20-09

Full agenda complete with reports for April 20-09 council meeting
st-thomas-council-agenda-apr-20-091Click here

Meth clinic to open in St. Thomas

Posted by Ian:

Have confirmation a new pharmacy will open on Monday, March 2 at the west end of Talbot Street near Tim Hortons. It will feature a meth clinic, similar to one now operating in London. In fact the facility may be owned by the same individual who operates London Medical Pharmacy’s methadone maintenance treatment centre at 528 Dundas St. E. Any further details would be appreciated.

St. Thomas shut out of infrastructure funds

Posted by Ian:
Two levels of government dole out millions in infrastructure funding on Friday and St. Thomas is shut out. So is Central Elgin which was looking for an investment in Port Stanley harbour. Plenty of money to lavish on the rest of Elgin. What happened in St. Thomas? Is it our elected leadership or lack of a CAO to properly administer the corporation or perhaps no concrete business plan for the future? Any money coming to St. Thomas was slated for a new police HQ.
Details of the announcement follow.
Infrastructure funding

Heritage is fine, say lawyers, but not for us

Ian McCallum

Having remained out of the spotlight since last summer, the Elgin County Court House is back on the radar, following a letter sent Feb. 5 by the Elgin Law Association to Ontario Realty Corporation.
At its last meeting, the association acknowledged the court house is “an impressive building of historical and architectural significance,” and it supports preservation of the Wellington Street facility that predates Confederation.

Central Elgin Mayor Sylvia Hofhuis addresses water concerns in Port Stanley

Here are Central Elgin Mayor Sylvia Hofhuis’ comments Thurs. Jan 29, 2009 dealing with drinking water concerns in Port Stanley.

mayors-remarks-news-conference-harbour-divest