GRAND BEND, LONDON and CHATHAM-KENT — This week the Pembina Institute is bringing Heidi Eijgel, an Alberta landowner with close to a decade of experience living next to wind turbines, on a speaking tour in Southern Ontario.
Heidi raises horses on a farm 700 meters from the Summerview Wind Farm, a 70.2-megawatt wind power project that has been in operation since 2004, outside of Pincher Creek Alberta. She does not have an ownership stake in the wind farm, but she and her husband are neighbours to the land where the turbines operate, and had lived in the area well before the first turbines were built.
As Southern Alberta is the birthplace of wind energy in Canada — with the first commercial wind turbines starting operation in the region in 1993 — Heidi’s experience is relevant to those in Southern Ontario who are now seeing wind farms built near their properties for the first time.
Dr. Tim Weis, director of renewable energy and efficiency policy with the Pembina Institute, will also be on hand to facilitate discussion and answer questions. Tim and Heidi are available for interviews and meetings upon request.
Public discussions will take place at 7pm Eastern at the following locations:
Monday, June 25: Grand Bend,
Alhambra Hall: 10080 Klondyke, Lambton Shores, ON
Tuesday, June 26: London,
Aeolian Hall: 795 Dundas St. E., London, ON
Wednesday, June 27: Chatham-Kent,
Chatham Banquet and Conference Centre, Sunset Lounge
280 Merritt Avenue, Chatham, ON
For more information about the tour and to watch a short video about Heidi and her horses, see: Living next to wind turbines: Perspectives from an Alberta landowner
-30-
Contact:
Tim Weis
Director, Renewable Energy and Efficiency Policy
780-667-6519
Kevin Sauve
Communications Lead
604-354-2628
Background:
For more information about electricity generation and renewable energy in Ontario, read: Behind the Switch: Pricing Ontario Electricity Option.