Magnolia Township Highlands (Fall 2007)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Is it true there are plans to put an industrial-scale wind farm in our community?
A. YES. A developer has already sold the rights to put up 67 turbines in Magnolia Township to a company in Spain. There is also a proposal to put 3 turbines up in Union township.
Q. Can you give me some basic information about this wind farm project?
A. Yes! Here are some of the things we know:
Magnolia and Union Townships have been identified as being a potential location of a privately owned, commercial wind farm made up 69 industrial wind turbines, 67 are proposed for Magnolia and 3 for Union Township. The turbines will be placed on land leased from local land owners or residents. In Magnolia township the wind plant will be owned by a company in Spain called Acciona.
According to local, national and international sources Acciona of Spain bought the exclusive rights to wind development in our community from a developer called EcoEnergy, in June of 2007, which also sold them rights to 16 other projects.
(Our Research Nerd says: "Did you know the right to build, own and operate a 66 turbine industrial wind farm in our community could be sold to Spain without most people here even knowing about it? At first I didn't believe it. Then I googled these words: Wisconsin, EcoEnergy, Spain. I was amazed to find that not only was it possible, it was already a done deal. Or rather, ALMOST a done deal. The rights have been sold but no permits have yet been issued or ordinances written for our area.)
The turbines will be made in a plant also owned by Acciona.
Each industrial wind turbine is 397 feet tall from base to blade tip.
For those of us who have a hard time visualizing 400 feet, it's about 40 stories tall --which is ten stories taller than our state capitol building. The radio tower near Evansville is approximately 400 feet tall.
The blade span is wider than the wing span of a 747. There is only one building in the State of Wisconsin that is as tall as one of these wind turbines. It's in Milwaukee.
We know they have an estimated cost of 3.3 million dollars per turbine. We know there are funds and generous tax incentives on both state and federal levels to aid such projects. But we don't know why a company based in Spain should benefit from them.
Acciona of Spain will pay no property taxes on the turbines.
We don't know the terms of the lease agreements proposed to our community members, but we do know that in other parts of Wisconsin, landowners have received a reported $4,500 per year per turbine. The lease agreement typically requires, among other things, an access road to each turbine and 24/7 access to your land by the company who holds the lease for the next 30 to 50 years.
We know that typically the lease agreement to your land will be legally binding to anyone who inherits or buys your land for the duration of the contract. We have not seen a copy of the contract offered to our community members so we don't know if the lease rates go up with time or if they are locked in at a fixed rate that may seem very good right now, but may not look so good in ten years time.
We urge people who consider signing a lease agreements that is this complicated and will last this long make sure to GET LEGAL ADVICE before doing so!
Q.How much will my electric bill go down?
A. Not a penny. The electricity generated in our community will be owned by a company called Acciona of Spain and sold to a power company who will sell it to us. We don't know which power company will buy the electricity generated in our community, but if we want to use it, we will have to buy it from the power company they chose to sell it to. In fact, because it’s considered “green” energy, if we chose to buy it, we may pay more for it.
Q. Will we see any property tax revenue from the turbines?
A. Not a penny. The turbines will not be taxed! But both federal and state dollars in the form of big tax incentives will be used to help make the wind plant possible. Each turbine has an estimated cost of 3.3 million dollars. This means BIG money for the developers, thc contractors and the owners of the wind farm. This means some money for local people willing lease land to host the turbines. To the best of our knowledge, no one in the state of Wisconsin has yet to recieve a penny in shared revenue from a wind farm.
The developers have submitted a draft proposal to Magnolia Township which will guarantee a certain amount per turbine for Magnolia Township and Rock county until shared the shared revenue formula kicks in after 34 turbines go up. The wind developers have proposed to make up the difference if the state ever gives Magnolia Township less than $1667 per megawatt of turbine nameplate capacity once it is considered to be installed and operational.
At this time the total number of industrial wind turbines in the State of Wisconsin is under 55. The wind developers have proposed 67 turbines for Magnolia Towship, Many people are asking where they will put them all?
Q. How does a wind turbine work?
In simple terms, the wind blows the rotor blades, which turns a shaft in a generator to make electricity.
Q. What are the main parts of a wind turbine?
The tower is bolted into a platform. The nacelle is attached to the top of the tower. The nacelle contains the rotor gearbox and generator. Attached to one end of the nacelle is the rotor hub, to which the three blades are attached.
Q. What is an "industrial" wind turbine?
An industrial wind turbine is constructed to supply the electric grid.
Q. Why do the blades turn at a constant rate, whatever the wind speed?
To produce alternating current in phase with the grid, the rotor shaft has to turn at a set rate. Innovative designs allow a small amount of brief variance.
Q. How are the blades kept turning at the same rate?
The blades can be pitched to adjust how they respond to the wind. This is called pitch control and is done with a motor at the base of each blade.
Q. What if the wind changes direction?
Yaw control motors at the base of the nacelle turn the nacelle so that the blades are facing into the wind.
Q. How much power does the wind turbine itself use?
Except for line loss between the wind turbine and the substation where it connects to the grid, the power used by wind turbines themselves has not been documented publicly.
Without power from the grid, wind turbines can not function. When there is a blackout, the wind turbines go out, too.
Q.How much wind is required?
Every wind turbine design has a cut-in wind speed, a rated wind speed, and a cut-out wind speed.
At the cut-in wind speed, the blades start to turn and a trickle of electricity starts to be produced. Around cut-in, the generator may be used as a motor to help the wind overcome inertia and start the blades turning.
The cut-in speed is typically 7 to 9 mph.
At the rated wind speed, the turbine is able to generate electricity at its maximum, or rated, capacity.
The rated speed is usually in the range of 25 to 35 mph.
At the cut-out wind speed, the turbine shuts down to avoid damage. The pitch controllers feather the blades to let the wind flow past them and the rotor hub is braked. The wind usually has to return to a much lower speed, called the cut-back-in wind speed, for a certain amount of time before the turbine will restart.
The cut-out speed is generally around 55 mph. The cut-back-in speed is around 45 mph.
Q: Are there health and safety issues I should be concerned about?
A: Unfortunately,yes. Although wind developers downplay adverse affects of living too close to wind turbines, there are serious, documented health and safety issues for people living closer than a mile and a half of an industrial wind turbine. There are concerns about effects on livestock. In Wisconsin there is no set back law. An industrial wind turbine could be built 1000 feet of your house or barn whether you want it there or not. The wind developer for our area has said they will not site a turbine closer than 1150 feet from a residence, but they admit they are measuring from the center tower supporting the turbine. The blades are 130 feet each, which means that the distance from the blade tip to your door can be 1020 feet.
We'd like to quote Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, who has conducted some of the most intensive medical studies on the effects of wind turbines on human health and safety.
Dr. Pierpont says, "I consider a 1.5 mile set-back a minimum figure. In hilly or mountainous topographies, where valleys act as natural channels for noise, this 1.5 mile set-back should be extended anywhere from 2-3 miles from homes.
Let me be clear: there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the wind energy proposition that says windmills must be sited next door (often 1000 feet) to people's homes and workplaces. Siting, after all, is the crux of the issue.
Irresponsible siting is what most of the uproar is about. Corporate economics favor building wind turbines in people's backyards; sound clinical medicine, however, does not.(Read the full report here)
11/2/07 UPDATE:Here is Dr. Pierpont's 10/10/07 response to a question about health problems caused by wind turbines:
"Yes, there are indeed medical problems caused by noise and vibration from current, upwind, three bladed industrial wind turbines. I am in the process of preparing a paper for publication in a medical journal documenting the consistency of these problems from family to family, the study subjects being a collection of families in several different English-speaking countries who have been driven from their homes by problems with sleep, headaches, tinnitus, equilibrium, concentration, memory, learning, mood, and child behavior -- problems which started when the turbines went into operation and which resolve when the family is away from the turbines. These problems all occur in proximity to recently built industrial turbines, put into operation in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
The ear is indeed the most sensitive receptor for noise and vibration. This does not mean, however, that if you cannot hear it, it cannot hurt you. The ear does more than hear. A number of the effects of noise and vibration from wind turbines appear to be mediated by the inner ear, which is a complex organ, one of whose functions is detecting certain sorts of vibration as noise. The inner ear also detects movement, acceleration, and position relative to gravity, has direct feedback onto eye movement, and has established linkages with anxiety centers in the brain.
People disturbed by noise and vibration from industrial wind turbines generally can hear the noise when it bothers them, though it may not seem particularly loud. Several people I have interviewed speak favorably of living next to an elevated urban train line, compared to living at their rural home next to wind turbines. They can sleep with traffic or train noise, but not with the wind turbine noise/vibration. They consistently described a penetrating and intrusive quality to the wind turbine noise, several describing in different ways a very disturbing feeling that the noise is somehow inside their bodies. This latter effect suggests detection of vibration in body cavities, especially since people who say this generally localize the feeling to their chest or their head.
Published research from Sweden (thesis by Pedersen and published papers incorporated into the thesis) shows that the percentage of annoyed people (which include people who move out or undertake major house renovations to try to do something about the noise) goes up at 37.5-40 dBA. This is probably because A-weighted noise representations are not capturing the parts of the wind turbine noise and vibration spectrum which are disturbing. The Pedersen studies are also based on modeled noise, not actual measurements, though there is a close correlation between actual dBA measurements and the Swedish governmental modeling protocols, the author says. Even if we do not know exactly what parts of the noise and vibration spectrum are bothersome, and to what extent these are represented in a dBA measurement, we have in the Pedersen research clear evidence that when noise is modeled prior to wind turbine construction, the allowed levels of noise should not be over 37.5 to 40 dBA outside of dwellings. Because the noise level is especially important at night, and it is at night that there tends to be a "stable atmosphere," with cool, still air at ground level and a brisk wind at turbine hub height, modeling of noise prior to wind turbine construction should use both a 37.5 to 40 dBA ceiling of tolerability, and van den Berg’s models of noise propagation in a stable atmosphere.
Sincerely,
Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD
Q.Could it affect my property values?
A. See the answer above. It may certainly affect your ability to sell your property. If you are required to disclose to a buyer that there are plans for an industrial wind farm near the house or land you wish to sell, your ability to sell your home may already be compromised The Wisconsin State Real Estate Condition Report (form No 907-A) requires disclosure of any condition you are aware of which would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the property and would significantly impair the health and safety of future occupants of the property. A seller is required to disclose awareness of the proposed construction of a public project that may affect the use of the property. People have already been taken to court for not disclosing plans for a wind farm before selling their property. (source)
Wales Highlands, year 2000 before the turbines came in.
Here is the same landscape after the turbines. 30 turbines are visable in this photo. The proposal for our area is 67. Is this what we want for our community and our farmlands?
Q.How far along is the project?
A. The project is about to enter the drafting of the wind turbine ordinance phase. Public input is critical. If you think our community deserves a better renewable energy plan than this, please know YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE JUST BY ATTENDING THE MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP MEETINGS ABOUT THE WIND FARM PROPOSAL! Come and submit your questions and concerns or contact us with your questions and concerns and we'll submit it to them for you. (Contact us by clicking here. All contact information will be kept confidential. The BPRC does not share your name or personal information with anyone. You can also write us anonymously at BPRC, PO Box 393, Footville, WI 53537
THE RESEARCH NERD INVITES YOU TO CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS YOU'D LIKE ANSWERS TO ABOUT THIS PROPOSAL.(Click Here to Contact The Research Nerd)
Norwegian Creek, Magnolia Township, Winter 2006