Better Plan, Wisconsin

The fight to stop wind farm developers from running 20 miles of high-voltage power lines through the center of Lee County may not be over.

Amboy resident Sam Taormina approached the Lee County Regional Planning Commission Monday night, loaded with questions about why the company was pouring the foundation for new poles in a wetland across the street from his state Route 26 home.

By existing county ordinances, the commission has little power to act, according to its chairman, William O'Keefe, and Taormina wasn't sure what the level of protection is that the Department of Natural Resources grants to that particular wetlands.

One thing, however, is clear: Taormina plans to pursue every avenue he knows to stop Big Sky Wind from installing high-voltage transmission lines above ground, instead of burying the cable or tying into the grid elsewhere.

"What is it going to do to my property value when I look out my window and now there's a set of power lines there? It that going to change what my house is worth?" Taormina asked.

The footprint for each tower is about 10,000 square feet, plus road access - roughly the size of a professional ice-hockey rink.

O'Keefe said the commission is continuing to research the extent to which the county not only can but should regulate privately held transmission lines.

Finding the appropriate level of regulation is something the Planning Commission and the County Board have pledged to examine, because Big Sky was able to secure right-of-way agreements with individual landowners with minimal oversight from the county.

"We're just not there yet ... this is a relatively new issue," O'Keefe said.

Web link: http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2008/02/05/news...

 

A Note From The Research Nerd: When it comes to a wind farm being built near where you live, expect the unexpected, and expect no protection from the current Wisconsin draft wind ordinance as it stands. There is legislation being pushed by the wind lobbyists that would take the regulatory power out of the hands of local government and residents and give it to the state. The state would then decide where turbines can go in your community, how many can go up, how close they can be to your house, how much noise they are allowed to make, and, as in this story, where wires may be strung around your home.

Write your legislators about this. Please send an email, long or short, asking them not to support turbine siting reform. Tell them they must investigate the history of the Wisconsin draft wind ordinance now that it's part of the public record that the ordinance has no medical or scientific basis and appears to have been largely created by a power company in Florida. Read the following post to find out where to send your letter.