Province Approves Box Springs Wind Farm
City Council will decide whether to proceed with project
Provincial regulators approved the Box Springs Wind Farm on December 14, marking the next step in the project.
With the approval by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), City Council must now decide whether to move forward with the wind farm, which would carry an approximate cost of $25 million to the City.
The project consists of four, 2-megawatt (MW) wind turbines, which would generate enough electricity for about 3,000 Medicine Hat residences. It would be located on the east side of Box Springs Road near the City’s northern boundary.
“This is the next step in what has been an exhaustive process and now it’s up to council to decide whether or not it’s in the city’s best interest to proceed,” said Russell Smith, Manager of Energy Sustainability.
The application was sent to the AUC for approval by the city in February 2009. The AUC conducted a thorough study which assessed various aspects of the project including the proposed connection to the provincial electricity grid and environmental factors such as noise and the effects on birds, bats and plant life.
If City Council approves the project, the target date for the erection of the wind farm would be late 2012 or early 2013.
Full details of the decision are available on the AUC website at www.auc.ab.ca.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:30 PM
Vaughn says:
With all the “fiscal responsibility” talk with the last election, I wonder if this will actually go through or not. It seems like a good idea in theory and for the sustainability of the environment, but that price tag is pretty steep for only 3,000 people.