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MESA POWER GROUP FILES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST CANADIAN GOVERNMENT FOR NAFTA INFRACTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT:
July 14, 2011 Jay Rosser
214-265-4165
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MESA POWER GROUP FILES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST CANADIAN GOVERNMENT FOR NAFTA INFRACTIONS

DALLAS, TX – Mesa Power Group LLC, a Texas-based renewable energy development company, has initiated the first step in a legal claim against the Canadian government for violations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) while the company was pursuing 565 megawatts of wind energy projects in western Ontario.


In its filing, Mesa Power specifically noted Canada’s failure to meet its international law obligations contained in NAFTA with respect to Ontario’s Green Energy Act and subsequent Feed-In Tariff Program (FITP).

“Mesa Power was surprised by unanticipated and last-minute rule changes to the Ontario Power Authority process that allowed wind projects to move from one region to another and interconnect with long, high voltage transmission lines,” said Cole Robertson, a company executive. “This clear favoritism disadvantaged Mesa, as well as other wind developer, and clearly violates the spirit, goals and objectives of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”

In its filing, Mesa Power cites a handful of other NAFTA violations by Ontario in the regulation of renewable energy. It also notes violations with the province’s “buy local” contract requirements within the FITP and challenges the preferential treatment given to certain participants in the program, including Korean-based Samsung C&T.  

Specific violations cited in the claim include:

-    NAFTA Article 1105, by the provincial government directing the Ontario Power Authority to change the rules for awarding Power Purchase Agreements under the FIT Program.

-    NAFTA Article 1106, by imposing a variety of prohibited Canadian and Ontario content requirements and “buy local” performance requirements.

-    NAFTA Article 1102, by providing more favorable treatment to a domestic company in like circumstances.

-    NAFTA Article 1103, by providing more favorable treatment to a non-NAFTA party in like circumstances.

“We believe our projects are among the most advanced wind projects in Ontario,” Robertson said. “Our first two projects have completed their environmental studies, have a favorable position on existing transmission infrastructure and can be in operation by the end of next year. We also have a firm agreement to purchase wind turbines from a leading manufacturer and have selected an engineering and construction firm. These two strategic relationships would have quickly created jobs within the province. Other projects that received contracts under the disputed rules will take years to complete and will require extensive planning of new, expensive and unnecessarily long transmission lines.”

Mesa Power expects to file a formal NAFTA Notice of Arbitration at any point after October 3, 2011.  The filing of this second notice formally begins an international arbitration that will review the fairness and propriety of the government actions in Canada.


About Mesa Power Group
Mesa Power Group, LLC., was established in 2007 to develop, finance, construct, own and operate wind and other renewable energy power projects. Mesa Power, based in Dallas, Texas, is currently developing over 700 megawatts of renewable projects across North America.

 
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AWA’s Wind Energy Projects Rank High on Canadian Priority List

AWA’s Wind Energy Projects Rank High on Canadian Priority List

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two wind energy projects owned by the American Wind Alliance (AWA), with a total 265 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity, have received priority ranking for transmission along the Lake Huron shoreline in the Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) Feed-In Tariff (FIT).

Twenty Two Degree Wind Energy, a 150-MW project located south of Goderich, and Arran Wind Energy, a 115-MW project located east of Port Elgin, are ranked among the top 700 MW of renewable energy in first-round FIT applications from the shoreline that were held awaiting approval of the Bruce to Milton transmission line. Construction on the line is now under way.

“This brings us one step closer to receiving 20-year power purchase agreements,” said T. Boone Pickens, the legendary energy executive who started Mesa Power Group LLC. AWA was founded by Mesa Power Group. “AWA is committed to helping enhance North American national energy security and this renewables initiative is a key part of that effort.”

“The Green Energy Act, and the associated Feed-In Tariff program, has made Ontario one of the most attractive markets for wind energy in North America,” said Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). “With a strong, consistent GEA in place, we are confident that the wind industry will deliver the jobs, investment and clean energy that Ontarians expect.”

The projects are ahead of many others in the FIT program because of their shovel readiness. They were favored because of their financial depth, relevant experience and available turbine supply.

On December 21, the OPA posted the priority ranking for 242 first-round FIT projects - applications submitted between Oct. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009 - that are without contracts. All wind projects in the western region of Ontario are now being considered for ranking because 1,200 MW of additional capacity that will be made available by the Bruce to Milton transmission line will be allocated during the next step, which is the Economic Connection Test (ECT). The ECT considers the cost to connect the projects based on ongoing transmission development and all other proposed generating facilities. The ECT will begin next month and it is expected contracts will be awarded at the end of that process.

Two other projects owned by AWA, the 200-MW North Bruce Wind Energy project east of Port Elgin and the 100-MW Summerhill Wind Energy project north of Clinton, along with other projects for which applications were submitted between Dec. 1, 2009 and June 4, 2010, are among the second-round applications that are currently being assessed by the OPA.

AWA’s four projects are being developed by Kincardine-based Leader Resources Services Corp.

About the American Wind Alliance:

The objective of this endeavor is to drive continued growth in the wind industry by acquiring and then completing the development of wind projects in North America. During the past several months, Mesa Power Group and the American Wind Alliance have successfully acquired more than 600 megawatts of high-quality wind projects and continue to consider new wind projects for acquisition that meet its selection criteria.

Contacts
Mesa Power Group
Jay Rosser, 214-265-4165
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http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101223005664/en/AWA%E2%80%99s-Wind-Energy-Projects-Rank-High-Canadian

 
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MINNESOTA AGENCY APPROVES STATE'S FIRST AMERICAN WIND ALLIANCE PROJECT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT:
APRIL 21, 2010 Jay Rosser
214-265-4165
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Minnesota agency approves state’s first American Wind Alliance project
Mesa Power Group to invest in and supply turbines
for a 78-megawatt wind farm near Goodhue

DALLAS, TX — Minnesota state regulators have given the necessary approvals to allow development of a 78-megawatt Minnesota wind project near Goodhue, MN, that backers say will help the state meet its renewable energy goals and further economic development efforts locally.

Development of the project is being spearheaded by the American Wind Alliance (AWA), a joint venture founded by Mesa Power Group LLC with the support of General Electric. Mesa Power Group was started by legendary energy executive T. Boone Pickens, one of the nation’s most visible proponents of renewable energy, in particular, wind energy. AWA was formed to drive continued growth in the wind industry. To date, AWA has reached agreement on seven other wind power project transactions totaling more than 750 megawatts— four in Ontario, Canada, and one each in Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri.

The Minnesota Public Utility Commission gave AWA the go-ahead on the Goodhue initiative in a recent approval of the project’s purchase power agreement, draft site permit and its structure as a community-based project.  

Mesa Power, as an owner of the Goodhue wind project, is helping finance the project and is also supplying the project with 52 GE wind turbines. The project encompasses 12,000 acres and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 31,000 to 70,000 homes. AWA expects to award a construction
contract to a Minnesota-based firm in the coming weeks with a goal of breaking ground in the fourth quarter, and delivering power by late 2011. Northern States Power Company, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc., has signed an agreement to buy the project’s electricity.

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MESA POWER PLACES WORLD’S LARGEST SINGLE-SITE WIND TURBINE PURCHASE ORDER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT:
May 14, 2008 Jay Rosser
214-265-4165
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MESA POWER PLACES WORLD’S LARGEST SINGLE-SITE WIND TURBINE PURCHASE ORDER

Purchase is step one in T. Boone Pickens’ plans to build world’s largest wind farm in Texas Panhandle

DALLAS, TX -- Mesa Power LLP, a company created by legendary energy executive T. Boone Pickens, has placed an order with General Electric to purchase 667 wind turbines capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 300,000 average U.S. homes.

The agreement represents the first phase of a four-phase project that will become the world’s largest wind energy project, with more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for 1.3 million homes. When all phases of the project are completed as projected in 2014, the wind farm will be five times bigger than the nation’s largest wind power project, now producing 736 megawatts.

Pickens said he expects that first phase of the project will cost about $2 billion, and that electricity from the project could be on-line by as early as 2011.

 
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MESA POWER TAKES WIND CAMPAIGN, LANDOWNERS ON THE ROAD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT:
April 1, 2008 Jay Rosser
214-265-4165
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MESA POWER TAKES WIND CAMPAIGN, LANDOWNERS ON THE ROAD TO SHOW HOW REGION CAN BENEFIT FROM PROPOSED WIND FARM

Dallas, Texas, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Mesa Power officials are taking their show on the road to give landowners in Carson, Gray, Hemphill, Roberts and Wheeler counties a first-hand look how its proposed 4,000-megawatt wind farm will help improve both the pocketbooks of local land owners and the region's economy.

Mesa Power took a group of about twenty landowners on its first organized tour of Sweetwater March 24, so that they could "see firsthand the forest instead of the individual trees," says Mesa Power's land consultant Steve Sykes. "They could see how wind farming has affected the ranchers, landowners, citizenry, schools, town, counties and the economies in the Sweetwater area."

 
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