Seven Stars wind project received Sask government backing before environmental approval

CALGARY — The Seven Stars Energy Project is a proposed 200-megawatt wind farm by Enbridge that would see 46 turbines erected across the Rural Municipalities of Weyburn and Griffin in southeast Saskatchewan.Enbridge has previously said the project represents an investment of over $500 million and will bring approximately $4 million annually to the local area through tax revenues, road upgrades, lease payments and other economic activity.Local politicians, including Weyburn Mayor Jeff Richards, have backed the project, calling it "both rare and transformative," but the approval process has been anything but smooth..'AN UGLY MESS': Weyburn residents dig for answers as Seven Stars Energy Project moves forward.Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained by the Western Standard reveal the Saskatchewan government had thrown its support behind the project and identified it as a priority for potential federal funding well before an environmental assessment was completed.On December 6, 2024, Jeremy Harrison, Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan’s Crown Investments Corporation (CIC), wrote a letter to then-federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in support of Seven Stars.“I am writing in support of the Seven Stars Energy Project (Seven Stars) and the partnership between Enbridge and 6 Nations Energy Development (6NED), a consortium comprised of Cowessess, George Gordon, Pasqua, Kahkewistahaw and White Bear First Nations and the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan,” Harrison wrote..The letter highlighted plans for the indigenous partnership to acquire at least a 30% equity stake in the project and said Seven Stars would help Saskatchewan pursue its commitment to deploy up to 3,000 MW of wind and solar generation by 2035.Less than three weeks later, on December 23, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) contacted CIC to tell officials that Seven Stars had been "formally identified by the Minister of Crown Investments Corporation as a Critical Regional Priority for Saskatchewan" and was being invited to apply to the federal Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program (SREP).Within weeks, CIC was coordinating meetings with Enbridge and federal officials, and by February 2025, Enbridge was seeking CIC's review of a federal funding application.The Critical Regional Priorities program, which Enbridge was seeking approval under, offered renewable and non-emitting energy projects up to $50 million or 50% of eligible project costs, whichever was less.Documents reviewed by the Western Standard show that officials had identified concerns over providing federal funding to Seven Stars.In a January 20, 2025, email from CIC official Cameron Sisson to Rachelle Van De Kamp, Financial Analysis Manager at SaskPower, Sisson asked her to confirm whether the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between SaskPower and Enbridge had already been awarded — meaning the price SaskPower would pay for electricity generated by the project had already been established..FLETCHER: B.C. bets big on wind power to generate industrial jobs ."This presents a risk that any SREP funding received for the project will go directly to Enbridge and will not result in any cost savings for ratepayers," Sisson wrote.In a heavily redacted response, Van De Kamp confirmed the PPA had already been awarded to Seven Stars and that "if funding is provided to this project with the current PPA there is no mechanism to pass on cost savings to the ratepayers, it will just go to Enbridge."On Dec. 17, 2025, the RM of Weyburn council approved a discretionary-use development permit for the project.At the time, Enbridge had not yet filed an environmental impact statement (EIS) with the province but expected to do so sometime in early 2026.In a statement from Enbridge the same day, the company said the EIS would include “a robust strategy to avoid, mitigate or minimize potential environmental impacts, follow-up monitoring to validate its conclusion, and adaptive measures.”Enbridge also said if approved, it planned to begin construction on Seven Stars in the fall of 2026, with the wind farm fully operational in 2028.The approval paved the way for half of the project's turbines to be built in the RM of Weyburn.However, the remaining turbines, slated for the neighbouring RM of Griffin, needed a separate approval, which ended up hitting a wall.In January 2026, the RM of Griffin sent a clear message to Enbridge, saying the company's application was "incomplete.""[The project] does not currently include the required environmental documentation. As a result, Council is not in a position to approve the application or proceed with further review at this time," the RM of Griffin said in a Jan. 28 statement."Council emphasizes that this decision is procedural in nature and does not represent a determination on the merits of the proposed project."Seven months later, Griffin approved Seven Stars anyway, which has raised questions from some local residents over whether the proper procedures were followed on the project’s path to approval..Nova Scotia wind project backed with $206M in public funds after private lenders stayed away .On July 14, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment approved the project’s EIS, and then one week later, on July 21, the RM of Griffin voted 4-2 to approve the permit, with one member abstaining.The EIS filed with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment runs 953 pages, but critics such as local residents Randy and Janet Schiller say the document doesn’t touch on many important factors.The Schillers submitted a detailed letter critical of the EIS during the public review period, saying the assessment failed to “address the human environment and the effects of wind energy on the human body, i.e. infrasound, flicker, noise level, EMF, etc.”The letter also said that there were “few studies that addressed the potential impact of turbine noise on clinically apparent health outcomes,” as well as the “visual risk factors or infrasound exposure.”Overall, the EIS had “serious gaps,” according to the Schillers, and did not “assess human health or farm animals as subjects of study; it scopes its noise work narrowly and proposes no noise monitoring; it relies in places on one-sided or developer-funded sources, and it provides no posted financial guarantee for cleanup at the end of the project.”However, despite these unanswered concerns, Seven Stars has nevertheless continued to advance toward construction, with Enbridge still expected to make a final investment decision.This is the second instalment in a Western Standard series examining the Seven Stars Energy Project.

Seven Stars wind project received Sask government backing before environmental approval

Related Stories

UPDATED: Closing arguments conclude in Caylan Ford’s $7.65M defamation trial against CBC, PressProgress and Toronto Star

Elghawaby billed taxpayers nearly $18,000 for UK trip on defining Islamophobia

RM of Weyburn quietly endorsed Seven Stars Energy Project almost a year before public announcement

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