BC is fortunate to have vast public lands that have long been used for recreation. As wind projects are often located on crown land, residents of nearby communities may wonder how a proposed project might impact their access.

What’s being done: The BC Energy Regulator requires project developers to engage with current land users to understand and accommodate their needs as much as possible. To keep people safe during construction, some areas may be temporarily closed or restricted but will reopen once construction is complete.

First Nations may have questions about how a wind or solar project proposed for their traditional territory might impact their way of life, or whether it might interfere with a cultural site or practice.

What’s being done: Before a would-be project developer applies for a permit, it must engage with First Nations to understand and consider their territorial rights and interests. The BCER also consults in alignment with commitments made to First Nations, as well as their rights and interests. With all projects, the regulator must consider Indigenous knowledge, including direct, indirect, positive, negative, and adverse cumulative effects on First Nations rights and interests, including Treaty rights.

Many people and businesses depend on crown land for their livelihoods under tenures, licences, leases, or permits that allow activities such as forestry, mining or backcountry guiding. They need to understand how a proposed project could affect their work and way of life.

What’s being done: The BC Energy Regulator requires project developers to identify and consult with landowners and those who hold rights in the vicinity of their proposed project. Anyone with a concern can also contact the regulator directly. Wind and solar projects on crown land can and do co-exist with other sectors. For example, the 15-megawatt quA-ymn Solar Facility is located on top of a reclaimed copper mine tailings pond.

Others may have questions about how proposed wind and solar projects could affect cattle ranching, grazing, foraging, and the use of valuable agricultural land for farming.

What’s being done: Wind and solar facilities can and do coexist with agricultural activities, large and small. Solar projects can and do co-exist with agriculture; a practice sometimes referred to as agrivoltaics. Meanwhile, ranchers currently run cattle through the Bear Mountain Wind Park, which has been operating near Dawson Creek since 2009. The developer consulted ranchers when plotting access roads and the layout of its 34 turbines. Some projects are proposed within the Agriculture Land Reserve; in such cases, developers would need to secure authorizations for non-farm use from the BC Energy Regulator before advancing their project.

Wind turbines can kill birds when they collide with rotating blades. In Canada, wind facility bird deaths vary significantly by location, species, and season. One study estimated that wind turbines were killing about 23,300 birds a year nationwide, based on the number of turbines operating at the end of 2011 (source). While these numbers are a real concern, for context, Canadian housecats kill an estimated 100 million to 350 million birds a year (source), while the annual toll from avian crashes into windows exceeds 25 million (source).

What’s being done: In BC, wind project developers must monitor bird activity for a minimum of one year before applying for a permit from the BC Energy Regulator. The company must explain the risks and its plans to reduce them. Options include careful project and turbine siting, avoiding known migration paths and higher-risk habitat where possible, and down-shifting or stopping turbines during higher-risk periods.

Bats are more sensitive to impacts from wind turbines than birds because they have low reproductive rates—females have just one or two pups a year—and are slow to recover from declines. Though data is still limited, the provincial government says bat deaths at BC wind facilities have ranged from near zero to 6.6 bats per turbine per year (source).

What’s being done: Wind developers reduce risk to bats with surveys, careful project and turbine siting, and operational changes. Just as they do with birds, companies must study bat activity for at least one year. The BC Energy Regulator has outlined a recommended approach to reduce risk to bats, which includes feathering or braking blades when turbines are not producing electricity and stopping operations at night during times when bats are at highest risk, e.g. when wind speeds are low and during the fall migration. If the regulator grants a developer a permit, and once the project is operating, the company will be required to operate the facility in a way that reduces risk to bats, and to monitor bat activity and deaths at the facility for a minimum of three years.

Some may have questions about how projects could affect streams, wetlands, sensitive species, wildlife habitat, and water quality.

What’s being done: Before applying for approval, project developers must study the area in question and identify sensitive environmental features including streams, wetlands, lakes, riparian areas, fish habitat, wildlife habitat, and soil and water quality. Companies must use qualified environmental professionals to assess potential impacts, including cumulative effects, and develop plans to avoid, reduce, manage, and monitor those impacts throughout the life of the project.

Before construction begins, developers must also prepare an Environmental Management Plan. These plans can specify setbacks and buffers from sensitive areas, measures to control erosion and sediment, limit when certain work can happen, detail invasive plant management, spill prevention, environmental monitoring, and reclamation of disturbed land once a project reaches the end of its operating life.

As the sun moves across the sky behind a wind turbine, the rotating blades can cast a repeating shadow known as shadow flicker. People living in residences near a proposed project may wonder whether this shadow flicker could be a nuisance.

What’s being done: Developers must ensure that shadow flicker is not experienced for more than a half hour per day, or 30 hours total in a year. The onus is on the developers to provide studies that will quantify shadow flicker effects.

Some residents, especially those with homes or recreational properties near a proposed project, may be concerned that operating projects could produce unacceptable noise.

What’s being done: The energy regulator sets limits for noise created by a wind or solar project audible at nearby occupied buildings. It uses a complex calculation that accounts for existing background sound levels—for example, a busy road—and surrounding land uses. If a proposed project could be audible at a building within 1.5 kilometers of the site, the developer must submit a noise impact assessment showing how it will meet the noise limits. In addition, a multi-year 2014 study conducted by Health Canada and Statistics Canada found no evidence linking wind turbine noise to adverse health effects (source).

Residents of communities near a proposed facility may wonder whether construction traffic could cause delays or make it harder to get to work, school, or other destinations.

What’s being done: At certain points during construction, residents may experience temporary delays as trucks haul materials, equipment, and components to a project site. To reduce disruption, developers must plan haul routes in advance, obtain the required permits, and work with local and provincial authorities on traffic management and road use. Once a facility is up and running, operation and maintenance teams will drive to site on a regular basis, but large loads or traffic interruptions are infrequent.

Some might have concerns with how wind turbines will alter scenic views.

What’s being done: Developers are required to consult with communities on all aspects of their proposed projects, including visual impacts, and may be able to site turbines in a way to reduce visual impacts.

During winter storms or freezing fog, ice can build up on rotating wind-turbine blades. Eventually, it can break off—presenting a hazardous condition known as “ice throw.”

What’s being done: To reduce the risk of ice throw to people and property, the energy regulator requires wind developers to site turbines at a safe distance from roads, private property, and regularly occupied buildings. For example, projects must be located around 500 meters from occupied buildings.

In addition, project operators can use ice-detection technologies and/or blade heaters, and can remotely slow or stop turbines if conditions suggest elevated risk of ice throw.

Some British Columbians may question the reliability of wind and solar power, since they are variable energy resources.

What’s being done: Wind and solar power are variable, but on BC’s grid they’re part of a team effort. They work alongside our province’s flexible hydro system that can ramp generation up or down as needed. In short, wind and solar add new supply to the provincial grid, while hydro helps balance and maintain reliability. This is why BC Hydro calls its large reservoirs “ideal partners” for wind and solar facilities.

Some people may wonder what will happen when projects reach the end of their operating life, and whether local communities will be left to deal with the waste.

What’s being done: The energy regulator requires permit holders to decommission a facility if it stops operating or is shut down for more than two years, and to remove structures and equipment from the permit area. A project cannot simply be abandoned. The regulation also applies security requirements, helping ensure funds are available for decommissioning. Many wind and solar project components are made of valuable materials such as steel, copper, and electronics and can be reused or recycled. (For more info, see Recycling Wind Turbine Components in Canada and Recycling Solar Panels in Canada.) That said, wind turbine blades cannot yet be recycled. When applying for a permit, proponents must engage with the local community and assess the capacity of the local landfill to accommodate project waste.