A fearless advocate of wind power

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

This Kincardine-area farmer speaks out regularly at major wind power rallies and is a staunch believer in the importance of co-operation and community involvement

by MIKE MULHERN

Whether you are for or against wind turbine power generation in Ontario, you've probably heard of Jutta Splettstoesser, she has been a tireless booster of wind power in Ontario, first as the founding president of Friends of Wind Ontario beginning in June 2011 and now as a director of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association.

Tall, serious, direct, a good listener but fearless, Splettstoesser can usually be found at major wind rallies expressing her support for the technology.

Originally from Germany, Splettstoesser has been in Canada since 1993 and this year she returned to Germany to attend the World Wind and Energy Conference in Bonn, where she spoke in support of wind education. She said it was important to attend the conference this year because it is the International Year of the Co-operative and, if there is one thing she has learned, it is the importance of co-operation.

"Through my work with Friends of Wind," she says, "it became more and more clear how important citizen power, community power is." She found examples of that power at work in her recent visit to Germany, where whole communities invest in and benefit from solar, wind and biomass projects. The community projects she visited often start small, with just one turbine, and they grow.

"They start small and then build more. They are really successful," she says, adding that the willingness among community members to invest usually means they have more money than they need to build any given wind park. Part of the attraction, she says, is the return on investment which is running at about five per cent based on government guarantees similar to Ontario's FIT program.

Some communities, she says, have developed renewable energy projects that supply more energy than they can use, so they sell the surplus to neighbouring communities. Splettstoesser would like to see more community-based renewable projects in Ontario.

"I keep telling wind developers, if you give part of the project to the community – offer community ownership – you will have more acceptance," she says. "That's what I heard at the World Wind and Energy Conference from the 47 countries participating. That's the experience in general. As soon as communities actively participate, you have less trouble."

Splettstoesser says she has talked with people from all over the world and not found one example of a person getting sick by being in proximity to a wind turbine if they are gaining financially from the project.

Wind noise, she says, is not a myth but it varies and if it is extreme there can even be a problem with a blade that can be fixed. There is also the problem of perception. "Some people they just pick up all the arguments and they are worried about noise." She has also met people who have gone to turbine sites to experience the noise and they say they couldn't hear any noise. "I tell them it's not always like that, it depends on the wind. Sometimes, if the wind is very strong, the wind itself can be louder than the turbine."   

She says there are a number of models for community participation, including reduced hydro rates, reduced property tax, a community fund. Some communities opt to take ownership of one or more of the turbines in a development and take the revenue from that turbine in exchange for their participation.

One of the problems we have in Ontario, she believes, is that people are not knowledgeable about their options. "They are planning 100 turbines north of us," she says, referring to the 180 megawatt Armow Wind Project in the Kincardine area, and they intend to have aircraft warning lights on the turbines in continuous operation without even considering the option of a radar system that turns lights on only when aircraft approach. Because people don't know these things are available, she says, they don't ask for them.

Farmers, she says, are often too trusting when they are approached to sign renewable energy agreements. Before they sign anything, they should see a lawyer, she says. If possible, they should consult their community before signing.

"It's best to involve the whole community in the development area," Splettstoesser says. If they don't get everybody involved, if just one person signs before there is community agreement, "it is going to be difficult to have any input."

With two solar projects on her home farm, Splettstoesser has first-hand experience developing farm projects. But, even with her experience, she says she made mistakes, first with the building of her 10-Kw project and then with a second 70-Kw project, both fixed solar arrays on the roofs of pig barns.

"The important thing I learned," she says, "is to buy local. If you don't go with a local contractor, you get no service." Another thing she has learned is to go for the biggest project possible. "I would have built a bigger project," she says, "and not been so hesitant." She believes her solar projects will be profitable and "definitely worthwhile." However, she is still learning about costs not expected, for example she just learned there is a monthly metering fee of $36 for the FIT project.

Splettstoesser, along with her husband and family, works a 550-acre cash crop operation in the Kincardine area. Being a farmer, she says, has given her the freedom to speak out on renewable energy issues.

"There are many people in our community that feel, because they work in the nuclear industry or because of their position, they can't speak out. As a farmer, you have that freedom." BF