The extra income is, of course, the primary reason the residents are interested in the project. Someone on Amherst Island currently has three main ways to use their land to make a living upon: 1) agriculture, 2) hunting, and 3) tourism. The wind farm adds a fourth. None of the current ways provides much income. At one time agriculture was viable, but it is just barely so now, and is detailed more in that section. Hunting and tourism are part-season minor activities. Almost everyone who lives on the Island either works on the mainland (or is retired) or generates income that is not specific to living on AI - like Doug Green's gardening advice business.

I've made some assumptions and calculated the income for each turbine as follows. Assuming the project will use 2.3MW turbines (the original Amherst Island project plan has been removed from Vector's web site, but Wolfe is using the 2.3's), and it runs at 25% efficiency, it will generate approximately 5,000,000 kw-hr per year (2,300,000 x 0.25 x 24 x 365). If Hydro (whatever they're called now) pays 0.11 for each one, the total annual revenue for each turbine comes to $550,000. While the contracts are not being disclosed publicly, if we assume a payout of 1.25% of the gross, it comes to $6900 per year.

It would certainly be possible for the Province to start paying more for the power. However, that price must at some point be passed along to consumers, and politically that might be difficult. You could also quibble about the 25% efficiency. Over the last couple of years Ontario has been averaging in the high 20's. But the best sites - like Prince, which sits on a bluff overlooking the eastern point of Lake Superior - are being built on first, and subsequent yields are likely to decrease. Germany runs about 20% and Denmark even less. Plus Amherst Island isn't a particularly windy place, just rating "acceptable" on the charts.

There's also some question if hunting will remain viable. Deer don't like turbines and will leave the area, if they can. Plus it will be interesting to see what happens when a hunter bounces some shot off of a turbine.