'AN UGLY MESS': Weyburn residents dig for answers as Seven Stars Energy Project moves forward

CALGARY — A massive wind project in southeast Saskatchewan has divided neighbours, sparked allegations of a lack of transparency and seen local residents digging through thousands of pages of records to understand how the project has been pushed ahead.The Seven Stars Energy Project — a proposed development led by Enbridge — is a 200-megawatt wind energy project that would see 46 turbines erected, with half in the Rural Municipality (RM) of Weyburn and the other half in the RM of Griffin.The project would supply enough electricity to power roughly 100,000 Saskatchewan homes annually over its anticipated 30-year lifespan and is expected to be in service by 2028.Both the RM of Weyburn and the RM of Griffin have now approved development permits for the project, with Weyburn approving its permit in December 2025 and Griffin approving its permit during a July 21 council meeting.The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment approved the project's Environmental Impact Statement on July 14.However, for some locals such as Don Bourassa, the fight over the project is far from over.Bourassa has lived on his acreage near Weyburn for 35 years and says 12 of the proposed turbines would be located within roughly four kilometres of his property.He told the Western Standard the controversy has become so bitter that one neighbour involved with the project sent him an unsolicited offer to purchase his acreage.“He knew that I was really opposed to the [project],” Bourassa said, adding the neighbour never personally approached him about purchasing the property and instead had his lawyer contact him to pick up a written offer for his land.The offer was $750,000 for Bourassa’s house, the other buildings on his property and his quarter-section of land. He said farmers familiar with property in the area have told him the acreage is worth roughly $1.5 million..Bourassa said he first learned in June 2024 that turbines were being proposed near his property, adding that roughly 12 to 15 families in the area stand to receive lease payments for the project.According to Enbridge, Seven Stars represents an investment of over $500 million, and the company has said it will bring approximately $4 million annually to the Weyburn area for the next 30 years through tax revenues, road upgrades, lease payments and other economic activity.The Saskatchewan government is also providing a $100-million loan guarantee through the Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation.Six First Nations communities and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan are also expected to acquire a 30% equity stake in the project.However, the prolonged fight over the project has seen multiple twists and turns as residents have previously packed town halls, raising concerns about noise, property values, agriculture, wildlife, and environmental factors, among others.Opponents have also formed a group called No Weyburn Windmills, which is dedicated to stopping the project.Bourassa believes plans for a wind power project in the area stretch back years before the public was informed.“Nothing was said to the public until June 2024, when it was announced on television and the radio,” Bourassa said, alleging some municipal councillors knew about the plans while others did not.Enbridge has disputed many of the concerns raised by residents opposed to the project.The company has previously said it plans to locate turbines farther from homes, use aircraft-detection lighting that activates when aircraft are nearby and ensure noise remains within applicable limits.“Based on the current body of literature, our view is that wind projects do not have a measurable negative effect on rural property prices,” Enbridge has said.The City of Weyburn has also thrown its support behind Seven Stars, with Mayor Jeff Richards calling the project “both rare and transformative” in an April 2025 letter, adding that the “overwhelming majority of residents that I’ve spoken with are in favour of the project.”Weyburn city council has also supported the project, but opponents have questioned how much independent research municipal officials conducted before endorsing Seven Stars.Weyburn resident Randy Schiller has spent several years challenging the project through correspondence, public meetings, freedom of information (FOI) requests and formal complaints.Schiller filed one FOI request seeking communications between the City of Weyburn and Enbridge and another seeking information the city used to assess the safety of wind turbines..Nova Scotia wind project backed with $206M in public funds after private lenders stayed away .He told the Western Standard that the records showed the city and Enbridge had met behind closed doors and that only one councillor attempted to independently research the project, relying on information supplied by Enbridge.“Since the public rollout in June 2024, Enbridge’s and the province’s announcements can be called questionable,” Schiller said.“As the government and Enbridge ramrod the project through, concerns from the community continue to be ignored.”Bourassa conducted his own search for municipal records, requesting emails, text messages and records of telephone calls involving Enbridge. He said he was initially quoted $900 before being told no records would be released.“It’s an ugly mess. There are so many loopholes that have just been jumped through and exploited that it’s unbelievable. There isn’t any transparency whatsoever in any of it,” Bourassa said.“I was in business for probably 35 or 40 years, and you don't run a successful business without being transparent with people... Enbridge came to see me after I was really pissed off because I had never even been contacted.”Records obtained by the Western Standard also raise questions about how Seven Stars became a government priority.A January 2, 2025, internal email from Saskatchewan’s Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) shows Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) informing provincial officials that Seven Stars had been formally identified as a “critical regional priority.”“I received an email from NRCan indicating that the Seven Stars Energy Project in Weyburn has been formally identified as a critical regional priority,” CIC official Cameron Sisson wrote.“This is a project that we never discussed as an option and the letter identifying this project as a priority did not originate with CIC. That being said, we will work through the process for the Weyburn project.”The email correspondence does not explain who put Seven Stars forward as a priority or how the decision was made.In late July, Enbridge said it had yet to make a final investment decision on the project. In light of the lack of transparency and heated atmosphere in the local community, Bourassa hopes the company reconsiders the project before shovels are in the ground.“If Enbridge was smart, it would just back away,” he said.“I don't care how big of a company you are. I would not want to put my people in a spot where you've got close to 2,000 people that are fricking pissed off.”This is the first instalment in a Western Standard series examining the Seven Stars Energy Project.

'AN UGLY MESS': Weyburn residents dig for answers as Seven Stars Energy Project moves forward

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