The Region of Queens has reached a deal with Renewall Energy to supply electricity from the Mersey River Wind farm. (Renewall Energy Inc.)

The Region of Queens will be using wind energy produced in their own backyard to keep the lights on in municipal properties.

The municipality will be one of the first customers of the Mersey River Wind Project, set to begin operating in 2026.

Halifax-based Roswall Development Inc. are the owners of Mersey River Wind. It plans to build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River in Milton.

Roswall will sell power directly to customers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power, under the name Renewall Energy. Roswall is the first in the province to be awarded a licence to sell power directly to consumers under the Renewable to Retail program introduced in 2015.

It will deliver electricity using Nova Scotia Power’s grid, but customers will be billed directly by Renewall. They want to sign up commercial users first and then open it up to residential customers.

Region of Queens councillors voted last March to allow the project to go ahead.

Sometime after that, the region signed a deal with the company to get its electricity from the wind farm. It will be among 30 government, commercial and industrial customers who have signed up so far.

It appears councillors approved the deal in a closed-door session at some point before the end of 2024, under the old municipal council. The agreement was never discussed in an open council meeting. 

And even the region’s recently elected Mayor Scott Christian couldn’t give QCCR the details.

But he said he’s happy about the agreement with Roswall.

“I know that it was council directed the municipality to enter an agreement with Roswall with respect to being a customer,” Christian said Thursday in an interview, “but I don’t know the number of megawatts or the duration of the deal or when that actually would have been advanced by the administration. I don’t know those details right now.

“I think we should be proud and I don’t see any reason why any of that can’t come to light.”

Queens isn’t the only municipality to sign up. The Halifax region, the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of Shelburne have also signed deals with Renewall.

According to a staff report last October for the Municipality of Shelburne, the deal with Renewall could see that municipality saving up to $500,000 over 20 years in electricity costs.

Renewall’s presentation to Shelburne’s municipal council said they offer rates two to five per cent lower than Nova Scotia Power’s rates in the first year of an agreement, with a fixed increase of one per cent each year over a 20-year contract.

Roswall CEO Dan Roscoe told QCCR that the wind farm could be supplying electricity to customers by the end of 2026. The company is scheduled to begin construction of the basic infrastructure this spring, with turbines set to arrive in the spring of 2026.

“The key feature of our rates is that they’re fixed over time,” Roscoe said. “The energy portion would be essentially predictable over the term of the contract, so that creates a certainty from a power price perspective that isn’t available with the public utility.”

Roscoe said that in addition to the municipalities signed up so far, they’ve also signed up some private-sector customers too, some of which are on the South Shore.

He said that many of their early customers want a greener option, either because their customers or governments are demanding it. Another reason is purely practical.

“Large energy users, and I think this applies to the public sector entities as well, that have perhaps fixed budgets, having predictability is actually very valuable, especially if electricity is a big percentage of your expenses.

“So the larger energy users, if they can get a hedge on their power price, that’s very advantageous for them.”

An added bonus for the Region of Queens is the expected annual tax revenue boost of up to $800,000 from the wind farm. Christian said switching to renewable energy is a no-brainer.

“In terms of realizing savings for the ratepayer, savings for the municipality as it relates to our energy consumption, we’re big energy consumers, we spend a lot of money on electricity, and so where we can realize savings while also achieving meaningful progress toward greening our facilities and reducing carbon emissions associated with energy for our facilities, it feels win-win-win to me.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The Region of Queens approved the next step Tuesday for Mersey River Wind farm development in Milton. (Mersey River Wind)

Queens County residents got one step closer on Tuesday to buying their electricity from wind power.

Region of Queens councillors approved a development agreement to allow a large-scale wind farm to go ahead in Milton.

Halifax-based Roswall Development Inc., the owners of Mersey River Wind, plans to build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River.

Roswall promises to sell power from the wind farm directly to consumers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power, under the name Renewall Energy. 

It will offer electricity to large customers on the South Shore first, and then to residential customers. 

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The company says its power rates would be lower than Nova Scotia Power’s. The project is expected to employ 100 people temporarily. It says it could employ up to 12 people full time after the farm is up and running.

David Howell is Roswall’s chief financial officer. He was at the council meeting on Tuesday.

“We will be delivering the electricity across Nova Sotia Power’s grid, paying for the use of the grid essentially. And people will have a choice, I hope, by the time we get to the end of 2025, to buy their power either from Nova Scotia Power or directly from our retail company.”

Roswall is the first in the province to be awarded a licence to sell power directly to consumers under the Renewable to Retail program introduced by the provincial government in 2015.

Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, large-scale wind farms are not automatically allowed in the area as it’s currently zoned. So the company had to apply for a separate agreement with the municipality. 

As part of that process, the municipality held a public hearing on Tuesday morning before its regular council meeting. Only one member of the public spoke against the project. A Milton resident was concerned about the proximity of the turbines to houses in the area and an effect known as shadow flicker. That’s essentially the shadow cast by the turbines on properties on a sunny day.

Mitch Underhay, Roswall’s development manager, said after the meeting that all homes are at least two kilometres away from the development. And one woods camp is about a kilometre away, but the company has reached an agreement with that landowner.

“There are limits of how many hours per year and minutes per day the shadow flicker can land on a receptor, which is usually a home. All of the homes around Milton are well outside of that, so they shouldn’t experience any shadow flicker at all.”

Much of the land is on former Bowater Mersey property. Because of much of it is already cleared, Underhay said there should be minimal environmental impact on the site. Staff will be on site to clear any vegetation or trees that might interfere with power lines or turbines, he said. No chemical sprays will be used.

The owners of two concrete companies spoke in favour of the development agreement. Bridgewater Ready Mix and South Shore Ready Mix hope to win some work with the project.

Joel Westin, president and owner of Bridgewater Ready Mix, told councillors there are many advantages to the project – local jobs, greener energy and potentially lower power rates.

“We in the ready mix industry also have a commitment to net zero and to achieve that we need renewable power. And we intend to become customers of the Mersey Wind project once it starts.”

Mayor Darlene Norman said the project could eventually generate up to $800,000 in tax revenue for the municipality.

“It is a good thing for Queens County and it was wonderful to have 100 per cent approval from council on this matter,” she said in an interview.

“It’s a big project for Queens and it is one that should be welcomed by people who understand that green energy is the important energy.”

Securing the development agreement with Queens County was one the last steps before the company can begin construction. Howell said it is in the final stages of working out a lease agreement for the Crown land in Milton. 

The development agreement approval is still subject to an appeal process, until April 4.

Howell said they hope to begin construction by this summer.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com