Mr. Crawley said NextEra has hired Canadians and worked very hard to understand the intricacies of the Canadian wind market. "They've caught up and developed the same kind of knowledge base that domestic players have," he said. "I think they will be one of the significant players over the long term."
Thomas Schneider, president of wind developer Schneider Power Inc., said NextEra's initial approach to the Canadian industry was somewhat brash and aggressive, but they have toned things down recently. Still, he said, the company is "unmatched in its ability to realize a project and bring it to fruition."
NextEra won't reveal a complete list of its development sites in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada. But it is known to be working on several locations in southwestern Ontario. In Alberta, its plans include a 54-turbine farm northeast of Calgary.
Like those of other wind developers, some of NextEra's projects have drawn fire from local opponents who are concerned about property values, noise, and health effects from turbines. The company has conducted public meetings for residents who live near some of its proposed sites; some have been highly confrontational.
For those opposed to wind farms, NextEra is just another large developer reading from the same script. Lorrie Gillis, a spokesperson for a lobby group called Wind Concerns Ontario, said the firm gave "the usual non-response" to questions about potential health issues, at a recent public meeting in Durham, Ont. Ms. Gillis and other activists want more studies to be done on potential health effects from wind farms.
Mr. O'Sullivan said NextEra's experience is that the farther wind farms are situated from big cities, the less opposition there is from local populations. Generally, he said, finding nearby transmission lines is a bigger issue.
"There's a lot of land in Ontario to build wind farms," he said. "If transmission and interconnection are solved, finding suitable landowners will occur naturally."
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NextEra at a glance:
60 wind farms generating 7,500 megawatts
13 natural gas plants generating 6,600 megawatts
3 nuclear plants generating 2,500 megawatts
3 oil-burning plants generating 850 megawatts
1 hydroelectric plant generating 360 megawatts
7 solar farms generating147 megawatts
