Pier Wind Turbine...
If Burlington Council does not reconsider this issue and reverse their decision to install the wind turbine on the pier , the incomplete beacon will be a permanent monument to the odyssey that planning and building the pier has become.
My viewpoint: Every logical reason was presented to Council to support a "yes" to install the turbine as originally planned. It makes sense financially and environmentally and would be a tremendous, innovative feature on the pier. Instead Council (urged by staff) said no. The reasons - not clear. Perhaps the turbine has fallen victim to the larger complications associated with the pier construction and concern of further schedule delays?
Missed opportunity: did you know that the City still plans to erect the beacon tower with lights now without the turbine? This would be a waste on a number of fronts. There is no reason to include the pier observation deck and beacon without the turbine. It will result in an incomplete project with annual operating costs that could have been avoided with the install of the small turbine on the top as per the original project design. We understand the costs of the turbine feature are already covered by a contribution from Burlington Hydro thus no new costs to the taxpayer are a concern here.
If the City proceeds with their new plan to just build part of the original feature (a beacon tower with no turbine), I suggest the result may very well be a new kind of symbol for Burlington. The incomplete beacon tower will send a message "Missed Opportunity" and the taxpayers of Burlington will now pay the costs of lighting the pier lights every year instead of having the wind cover those costs.
BurlingtonGreen forwarded this letter to the Mayor and members of Council on June 11, 2012 with a recommendation that the turbine be installed as originally planned but done after the completion of the pier construction to address their concerns of project schedule delays. As of June 15, BurlingtonGreen has received no response to this solution focused recommendation from any members of Council.
June 18, 2012 - BurlingtonGreen letter sent to the media here.
Chronological Information leading up to latest news on this issue....
Here is the information leading up to the latest news
On April 30, Burlington Council voted unanimously to cancel the wind turbine that was to be installed on the pier as per the original pier design project.
BurlingtonGreen went before Council on April 30 to ask that the issue be deferred to allow the public to become aware of this change of plans and to gather further citizen input. We wanted to learn more and explore potential solutions to address the staff update that battery packs would be added to the project to store the renewable generated energy. However, Council did not support this recommendation to seek public input and explore creative solutions and cancelled the turbine feature.
Why? What's the rush? Maybe there is a corporate partner in Burlington who would have liked to pitch in the funds required for the battery addition thereby negating the use of tax dollars? If so that would have addressed Council's key concern and the turbine could have been installed. The turbine was estimated to realize a $3200 power savings return each year. That would have been a feature on the pier that provides a financial return while benefiting the environment. Are there other components of the pier that provide an annual financial savings?
What is acceptable to Council when it comes to renewable energy "investment"? We are not sure if /why the City did not first check that the district transformer could support the turbine's energy supply years back when they incorporated the feature into the design and when they accepted the $100,000 from Hydro. Secondly, there was no indication that staff or Council had planned to cancel the turbine until they learned of the new battery pack & configuration expense. So that would suggest that perhaps a 31 year payback period ($100,000 /$3200 annual return) was acceptable to Council, just not the increased 53 year payback period. Do they have a "cap" on the payback period when it comes to renewable energy project expenditures? It would be helpful to know.
Moving ahead, as a solution focused organization, BurlingtonGreen would like to realize a positive outcome to support the environment. Burlington Hydro already contributed $100,000 to support the renewable energy project at the pier.
To learn more about this issue:
- Click here to see the Fall 2006 City Talk issue featuring the pier wind turbine on page 4.
- Click here to see the 2008 news item on the pier wind turbine feature "Burlington Hydro Inc. teams up with the City of Burlington to Produce Renewable".
- Click here to see Features of the Brant Street Pier - June, 2011
April 17, 2012: CITY STAFF PROJECT UPDATE #13 Brant Street Pier:
Wind Turbine Update* – "In January 2012, the Project Management Team met with Burlington Hydro staff for an update on the wind turbine installation. Hydro staff advised that the transformer station serving the downtown area is not adequately configured to accept feed-in (surplus power) from the pier wind turbine.
An upgrade of the transformer station to accept renewable energy from the pier and other sources is fairly expensive and not currently planned for the immediate future.
In order to maximize the usage of the pier wind turbine power, staff have authorized the pier design consultant and contractor to revise the wind turbine configuration to have on-site excess power captured using battery packs. The cost of this reconfiguration, including the batteries, is about $70,000 and will be funded from the overall project contingency (approximate total project contingency allowance of $890,000). The overall appearance of the wind turbine will be the same and the battery packs will be housed in the existing pier electrical room. *NOTE: Having discussed the extra costs of the battery pack option and the overall merit of the wind turbine, Community Services Committee approved the following recommendation for consideration by City Council on April 30, 2012: ""Direct the General Manager of Community Services to have the turbine eliminated from the Brant Street Pier project." Should council approve this option, the wind turbine will deleted from the project." Tom Eichenbaum, P. Eng.Director of EngineeringCommunity Services Division
- NOTE: as far as we know, there was no public indication that current Council had any plans to remove the wind turbine from the pier project until April 17-18, 2012 when staff reported to Council a new battery addition cost would be required to operate the turbine. Thus, now that the battery is no longer required, the project should be able to proceed as planned.
- Click here to see the April 18, 2012 City Committee meeting (start at aprox. 1:51 mark) where city staff informed Council of their suggestion to alter the turbine with battery packs to store the renewable energy.
- Click here to read the BurlingtonGreen presentation to Council on April 30.
Below is a copy of the first follow-up email sent to the Mayor and members of Council. We will provide updates as we learn more information.
Media news so far:
- See Our Burlington's article - here
- See May 3 Hamilton Spectator article here
- See Burlington Post article here
- See Our Burlington's May 26 article here
- See June 1 article here
- See "Nightmare on Brant Street - June 6 here
- See June 14 news update here
- See June 18 "Our Burlington" article here
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2012 , Subject: wind turbine follow-up
Dear Mayor Goldring,
As you would expect, BurlingtonGreen is very disappointed with the unanimous decision of Council to cancel the pier wind turbine. It would have served as an important symbol of Burlington's commitment to innovation and economic growth as well as providing environmental benefits. We believe the decision to cancel it will send a strong signal counter to our collective goals.
Of additional concern is Council's unwillingness to explore creative (i.e. privately funded) solutions to support the added costs for the project and unwillingness to defer the item to allow for public awareness and an invitation for meaningful engagement. This appears to be very much at odds with this Council's expressed commitment to do a better job at this.
Moving forward, without the benefit of a staff report our team has some questions I am hoping you can answer or direct to the appropriate staff member.
1. What are the next steps with the wind turbine unit? Who owns it? Is it available for use elsewhere in the City? Will there be any costs as a result of cancelling the turbine order and if so , what is the amount?
2. There were Council comments about a preference to redirect the 100k from Hydro (earmarked for the turbine) to support another, more effective renewable energy project in the City. We would like to learn more about this opportunity and what the process will include as far as specific project opportunities, the 100K funding redirection and the projected timing of this.
3. We would like to know how and when the cancellation of the wind turbine will be communicated to the citizens of Burlington. Thank you in advamce for your attention to these inquiries and we look forward to a response.
Amy Schnurr
Executive Director
BurlingtonGreen
Response from Mayor Goldring: May 4, 2012
Hi Amy,
I will do my best to answer your questions.
1. No wind turbine has been purchased. There could be a change order fee for cancelling the turbine component due to time spent on this by the contractor. Staff does not believe that fee will be greater than $10,000.
2. The potential for a meaningful renewable energy project is up for discussion during the Community Energy Plan process. There is nothing specific in mind at present. ( I am sure you are aware of the solar panel installation that is on the roof of the new Fire Station number 8.)
3. The cancellation of the turbine has been communicated in both The Spec and The Post. All pier updates are added to the city website.
I have had several positive comments about council’s decision and I know Councillor Meed Ward has heard from several residents by email that support removal of the turbine from pier as well.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Thanks, Rick
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Since Burlington Council voted unanimously on April 30 to cancel the wind turbine that was to be installed on the pier , BurlingtonGreen has received lots of input and concern and information about this issue. It appears that information shared at City Committee and Council meetings and followed up on in the media was inaccurate and we believe to be misleading to the public. We have done our best to try to sift through it all and present the facts as we understand them to City staff and Council via a letter sent to them (below). In doing so, we believe that the concerns identified by members of Council have been addressed and we look forward to the project resuming as per the original plans.
The following letter was sent to The Mayor, Members of Council, the City Manager and media outlets on May 11, 2012
Subject: Pier Wind Turbine- Getting the facts straight
Dear Mayor Goldring, Members of Council & City staff,
We believe the inaccurate information shared at Committee and Council meetings and followed up in the media regarding the pier wind turbine was misleading to the public and harmful to the renewable energy industry. We trust the following information will be considered helpful in getting the turbine installation back on track as planned.
Below is our understanding of the turbine and its installation based on information from Hydro One, the wind turbine manufacturer and the wind turbine installation company (We have not received a reply to our request for confirmation from Burlington Hydro at this time).
1. The wind turbine energy can feed into the transformer and the permits are in place. Counter to what has recently been reported, no added battery packs are required. If you did want to add a battery pack (although not necessary), the cost would be $11,800 not the reported $50,000.
2. The "$200,000 plus" figure quoted by Councillor Dennison is not accurate. The wind turbine feature has already been paid for by Burlington Hydro via a $100,000 contribution. The invoice we have reviewed states a total cost for the turbine including installation to be $89,819 leaving a project surplus of $10,181 available to support any hydro connection costs that may be required.
3. We understand the city already has in it's possession some of the components of the turbine at a cost of $52,000 and that there could be an additional cancel order fee if the project was not to proceed.
4) The wind turbine is a small 10 kW unit and yet it is a good investment, both financially and environmentally. Unlike other infrastructure expenditures in the City, renewable energy projects produce a financial return. Projected energy revenue for the wind turbine is estimated to be $3000 per year and instead of lighting the pier lights with conventional energy supply and paying for it, you will be using "free" wind power and setting a clear example of Burlington’s innovation and environmental leadership.
Considering these facts and continuing to recognize the benefits to the City of Burlington,we look forward to seeing the City proceed with the pier wind turbine project.
Amy Schnurr
May 25 Media Release from the City of Burlington
Council asked to take a second look at renewable energy for the pier
The Brant Street Pier construction project had included a wind turbine that would feed energy back into the power grid. In April 2012, city staff reported to the city’s Community Services Committee that the wind turbine could not feed power into the grid but could be a stand-alone power source if a battery pack were added. City Council removed the wind turbine from the pier project.
“We recognize that City Council did not have all the facts when staff provided a project update to committee on April 18,” said City Manager Jeff Fielding. “Since then, staff have worked diligently to gather key information.”
In May, city staff met with hydro officials to reconfirm the status of access to the Cumberland Transformer station. They discovered that the city may be able to connect to the grid through the MicroFIT program run by the Ontario Power Authority.
“We are asking Council, ‘If you had this information before you made a decision to remove the wind turbine, would you have made a different decision?,’ ” Fielding said.
The report will go to the city’s Community Services Committee on May 30.
For more about the Brant Street Pier, visit http://cms.burlington.ca/Page2367.aspx, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. " data-mce-href="mhtml:{DB9E9593-1B5D-43BC-80CA-BBFC5E84B0D2}mid:/00000529/!x-usc:mailto: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 905-335-7600, ext. 7841.
BurlingtonGreen believes it to be very unfortunate that the issue needs to be brought to Council Committee on May 30 for further debate. Prior to what turned out to be inaccurate information presented to Council members on April 18, the wind turbine installation was to proceed as planned. All the reasons the turbine was originally approved are still valid. Burlington still needs renewable energy, the pier is a high profile location and will deliver a valuable message to Burlingtonians and our City's visitors. The project was never intended to make money and it will not be losing money under microFIT.
As a solution focused agency, we are pleased to have been able to help identify and share accurate facts on this issue and want to move forward to realize a solution respectful of the environment and to the taxpayers of Burlington. The City should continue the plan to install the wind turbine as originally approved.
You can read the letter BurlingtonGreen sent to the Mayor and members of Council on May 29, 2012 HERE.
May 31: Email and blog from Mayor Goldring here
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