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IESO Wind Projects Do Not Include Lambton County

Proposed wind turbine projects in Lambton County did not make the first round list of contracts awarded by Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

The 16 contracts awarded include five wind, seven solar, and four hydroelectric, representing over 454MW of clean renewable energy capacity.

A spokesperson for We're Against Industrial Turbines Plympton-Wyoming (WAIT-PW) says he has mixed emotions about the list.

Santo Giorno says of the five awarded, four have declared themselves as unwilling host municipalities.

"They had about 700MW of projects that could have been put in willing host communities," he says. "That would have been enough for this round and next round, and they still decided to put four of them in communities that declared themselves to be not a willing host."

Giorno says the only willing host that made the list was the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.

Projects have also been approved in the Town of Lakeshore, Township of Champlain, and Municipalities of North Stormont and Dutton Dunwich.

NextEra's proposal to build up to an 100MW wind turbine project in Warwick and Brooke-Alvinston did not make the list.

Brooke-Alvinston Mayor Don McGugan reinforces this is just the first round of contracts.

"We are known across the province as a non-willing host," he says. "We also had great concerns about our infrastructure, our roads and all the other challenges that a major job like that would bring.

"So, I guess as a municipality, we're happy at the present time."

Lambton County is home to more than 150 wind turbines.

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