Entries in wind farm lease (26)
1/29/10 How many is too many? Columbia County learns of yet another wind developers plans AND Glacier Hill's 18 turbine "Country Cousin" wind project has no plans to 'buy American'
Home in a Wisconsin wind farm, Fond du Lac County. Photo by Gerry MeyerAnother county wind farm? Feasibility tests in south promising so farOfficials of the Madison-based Wind Capital Group came to County Board's planning and zoning committee almost 18 months ago. They asked for, and got, a conditional use permit for two test towers, each about 197 feet high, to measure wind velocity and direction, to determine if southern Columbia County has adequate wind to sustain a 25- to 33-turbine wind farm capable of generating up to 50 megawatts of electricity.
So far, the data collected at the test towers indicates that southern Columbia County's wind seems sufficient to sustain a wind energy operation, said Tom Green of Wind Capital Group. The planned two-year testing period is scheduled to end in August.
Green said he continues to think that southern Columbia County would be a good location for what would be the company's first Wisconsin wind farm, although it has operations in other states such as Iowa.
Wind Capital Group would sell the wind farm's electricity to utilities.
But whether the wind farm goes in, he said, will depend on what the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin decides, as it sets parameters for wind farms - including setback from neighboring properties - that will apply throughout Wisconsin, and which cannot be made stricter by local authorities.
"You can't have a patchwork of rules throughout the state," Green said.
A new state law directed the PSC to set the statewide rules, which would guide municipalities, such as towns and villages, in regulating wind farms, said PSC spokeswoman Deborah Erwin.
The rules, when they are adopted, will apply to wind farms such as the one proposed by Wind Capital Group - operations that generate less than 100 megawatts.
Larger projects, such as the recently approved We Energies Glacier Hills Wind Park in the Columbia County towns of Scott and Randolph, require direct approval from the PSC. Smaller projects don't need the commission's approval, but would be subject to local regulations, provided that those regulations comply with the rules that the PSC soon will set.
But George Plenty, chairman of the town of Arlington, said officials in his town hope that an ordinance adopted last spring, requiring wind turbines to be at least 2,640 feet from buildings, still will be in place once the PSC establishes the statewide rules.
That ordinance, Plenty said, was in direct response to the proposed wind farm.
Given the density of housing in the town of Arlington, it's unlikely there would be any place in the town where a turbine could be built that would conform to a 2,640-foot setback.
"But I don't know what will happen to this ordinance when the PSC gets involved," Plenty said.
The pending PSC rules were the reason why the town of Leeds didn't adopt any ordinances regulating the placement of wind turbines, said James Foley, Leeds town chairman.
One of the Leeds town supervisors, Alan Kaltenberg, has leased some of his land for one of the test towers. Foley said Kaltenberg would abstain from voting on any matter related to the regulation of wind turbines.
For some town of Leeds residents, Foley said, a wind farm would offer an opportunity to make money from land that might not be particularly productive for farming.
"All these turbines would have to be sited on a high knoll," he said. "High knolls are usually rocky, and farmers can't farm rocks."
Plenty said he's heard of few landowners in the town of Arlington who would be willing to lease their land for a wind turbine location.
One reason for that: Town of Arlington resident Lori McIlrath, who opposes locating a wind farm in the town, has shared her concerns with area farmers.
McIlrath and her husband, Joel, have organized opposition to the project, she said, mainly because they have visited people who live near We Energies' 88-turbine Blue Sky Green Field wind farm in northeast Fond du Lac County.
McIlrath said she thinks a wind farm would cause health problems such as sleeplessness, reduce property values and create around-the-clock noise in what has been a quiet rural area.
"I ask landowners if it's truly worth whatever they'd get for their land, to do this to the community," she said.
Wisconsin utilities already are required to produce a percentage of their power from renewable resources such as wind or solar power. Those requirements might become even more stringent with a bill, backed by Gov. Jim Doyle, that's pending in the Wisconsin Legislature. One of the provisions of the Clean Energy Jobs Act is a proposal to require utilities to use renewable resources for 20 percent of their power by 2020 and 25 percent by 2025.
Wind farms are likely to become more common in Wisconsin, Green said.
That's why, he said, he has made himself available to the public, at Leeds and Arlington town meetings and at small-group sessions with southern Columbia County residents, to answer questions about the effects of a wind farm.
"It's our job," he said, "to present to the public accurate, scientific information, so they can better understand the facts about wind energy."
January 27 2010
Wisconsin regulators have approved plans to startup company E Wind to build a 30 megawatt wind farm northeaset of the State Capial of Madison at a cost of $60 million dollars. Talks are underway to buy 18 turbines fro Hyundai Heavy Industries, E-wind tells Recharge.
If the deal is finalized, it would represent the largest known US order thus far for South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy.
Wes Slaymaker, who heads a company that provides engineering services for the wind industry and is a partner in E Wind, says the next project step is to negotiate a long-term power purchase agreement with a utility.
“This is our biggest challenge because electricity prices and demand are soft,” he says in a telephone interview. “Utilities are not excited about buying more power at the moment.”
Even so, they must comply with Wisconsin’s renewable portfolio standard that requires publicly-held utilities to produce 10% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2015.
Governor Jim Doyle is also calling on lawmakers to pass his proposed Green Energy Jobs Act, which would update the RPS to 25% by 2025.
“I think the bill has a decent chance of getting passed,” says Slaymaker.
Once a power purchase agreement is in place, Slaymaker believes he and two local partners will obtain project financing. One of them owns part of the 1,800 acres where the turbines will be sited near the town of Randolph.
Slaymaker describes the proposed wind farm as a community project because it has local owners and operators, and most of the investment for site preparation and wind project development will stay in the region.
“This type of community wind project, while common in Minnesota, is unique to Wisconsin,” says Slaymaker.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Acciona, Columbia County, Columbia County wind farm, EcoEnergy, Wes Slaymaker, Wind farm landowner, Wisconsin wind power, acciona, e-wind, glacier hills, wind energy, wind farm lease, wind farm noise, wind shadow flicker
|
Comments Off
1/24/10 TRIPLE FEATURE: From open arms to balled fists: Green honeymoon ends once turbines start: Residents realize their lives are changed forever. AND Why are Brown County landowners changing their minds about hosting turbines? AND Wind developers wounds to Wisconsin community have not healed.
SPECIAL TO BROWN COUNTY, WISCONSIN: Towns of Morrison, Holland, Wrightswood, and Glenmore
Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy [BCCRWE] is a grassroots organization made up of local residents who are concerned about the impacts of Invenergy's Ledge Wind Project proposed for the Towns of Morrison, Holland, Wrightstown and Glenmore.
If you'd like to learn the latest news about the project, or meet some of your concerned neighbors,
Visit the BCCRWE website by CLICKING HERE
The Public Service Commission is now taking public comment on the project, and maintains a docket containing information about the project.
Visit the docket by CLICKING HERE and entering the case number: 9554-CE-100
Leave a comment on the project on the docket by CLICKING HERE
Below is a map showing the noise level predicted for residents in the project. The yellow dots are homes. THe black dots are wind turbine locations. The blue areas indicate predicted noise levels above 50 dbA. The purple areas indicate noise levels of 50dbA.
Unfortunately noise from turbines that are 40 stories tall doesn't stop at the boundries drawn on this map. The setback proposed for this project is 1000 feet from non participating homes.
The World Health Organization recommends night time noise limits of 35dbA or below for healthful sleep. Loss of sustained sleep because of turbine noise is the most common complaint from Wisconsin wind farm residents.
Better Plan, Wisconsin has been following the story of our eastern neighbors on the Island of Vinalhaven who are finding it impossible to live with the noise of the turbines they welcomed with open arms.
Unfortunately it's a story that is being told where ever wind turbines are placed too close to people's homes, including our own state of Wisconsin.
WIND POWER OVERPOWERS ITS NEIGHBORS
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel,
morningsentinel.mainetoday.com
By Tux Turkel
24 January 2010
VINALHAVEN — Cheryl Lindgren was excited when the three wind turbines down the road began turning in November, but within days her excitement turned to disbelief. The sound at her house, a half-mile or so away, wasn’t what she had expected. As she sat reading in her quiet living room, she could detect a repetitive “whump, whump” coming from outside.
“I can feel this sound,” she recalled thinking. “It’s going right through me. I thought, ‘Is this what’s it’s going to be like for the rest of my life?’ ”
Dedicated two months ago with great fanfare, the Fox Islands Wind Project is producing plenty of power, but also a sense of shock among some neighbors.
They say the noise, which varies with wind speed and direction, ranges from mildly annoying to so intrusive that it disturbs their sleep.
They also say they lament losing the subtle quiet they cherished in living in the middle of Penobscot Bay — the muffled crash of surf on the ledges and the whisper of falling snow.
The folks living around North Haven Road aren’t anti-wind activists. Lindgren and her husband, Art, supported the project as members of the local electric co-op.
Now the Lindgrens are discovering what residents in other communities, including Mars Hill and Freedom, have learned: When large wind turbines are erected, some people living near them will find their lives disrupted.
That wasn’t supposed to happen here. Co-op members on Vinalhaven and in neighboring North Haven endorsed the $15 million project as a way to hold down high electric rates and maintain a sustainable community. The developer, backed by the Rockland-based Island Institute, saw it as a model for other offshore towns.
In the wake of the complaints, the developer is taking extraordinary steps to try to lessen the effect. Several modest fixes are under way, and bigger ones are being considered, including some that could sacrifice energy output.
However, the Vinalhaven experience also is being seen as a cautionary tale. Upon invitation, Art Lindgren and other neighbors have spoken at meetings in mainland towns where new wind farms are being proposed.
Meanwhile, wind power opponents are attempting to change the state noise standards to affect which projects are permitted. All this may complicate Maine’s efforts to use its renewable resources to become more energy independent and create an industry around wind power.
In no-man’s land
The Vinalhaven project consists of three 1.5-megawatt turbines. They are a massive presence on a high point of land at the island’s northwest corner, a 10-minute drive from the ferry terminal. Each unit stands 388 feet high, from ground to blade tip.
The ribbon-cutting in November drew more than 400 people and attracted national media attention. Schoolchildren passed out pinwheels. Visiting dignitaries applauded New England’s largest coastal wind project.
The 15 or so property owners within a half-mile of the turbines watched with special interest.
To get state approval for a wind farm, developers must keep sound levels offsite below 45 decibels, less than the background noise in an average household. Fox Islands Wind purchased a home and two vacant properties that were adjacent to the towers. A fourth owner turned down a buyout offer, seeking more money.
However, the Lindgrens and others suddenly found themselves in no-man’s land: Their homes are technically outside the noise zone, but their ears say otherwise.
The Lindgrens built their home 10 years ago next to Seal Cove. They have goats and ducks and heat with wood. After much travel and a career in software development, the couple looked forward to a peaceful retirement. Instead, they now spend much of their time measuring sound levels, comparing notes with neighbors and learning the details of wind power.
Cheryl Lindgren values quiet. On a recent stormy evening, she recounted when she first came here and stood at the shoreline in the snow.
“All I could hear was the sound of snowflakes falling on my jacket,” she said. “That’s not going to happen again.”
‘Unsettling and unpleasant’
On this evening, the Lindgrens were having cake and coffee with three other neighbors who are troubled by turbine noise. They’ve already developed a vocabulary to describe the shifting sounds.
One sound is like sneakers going around in a dryer. Another mimics an industrial motor. There’s a ripping and pulsing of blades cutting through the air, and the rotational “whump, whump, whump” sound.
Another common sound, which was audible on this evening from the Lindgrens’ front porch, resembles a jet plane that’s preparing to land, but never does. That sound was produced by two turbines spinning in a moderate northeast blow that followed the snowstorm. The third turbine was offline for repairs.
“That’s fairly standard,” Cheryl Lindgren said, “and that’s just with two turbines. Factor in the third and it’s unsettling and unpleasant.”
For Ethan Hall, the sound is more than unpleasant.
Hall is a young carpenter who’s building a small homestead on a height of land past the Lindgrens, roughly 3,000 feet from the nearest turbine. The noise was so annoying on some nights, Hall said, that he couldn’t sleep in the passive-solar, straw-bale structure. Now he’s house-sitting in town.
“I find it maddening,” he said. “It’s a rhythmic, pulsing sound that’s impossible to ignore.”
Art Farnham is trying to ignore the noise, although he can clearly hear it inside his mobile home. A lobsterman who lives 1,300 feet from a turbine, Farnham turned down an offer to buy his 6-acre property. He continues working on a new home and shop that will have a turbine almost in its backyard.
“I think they should shut them down,” he said. “We were here before they were.”
Between Hall and the Lindgrens is the home of David and Sally Wylie. They built in the once-quiet cove, and like their neighbors, did much of the work themselves.
“This has been our dream, our life,” Sally Wylie said from their winter home in Rockland.
Set into the snow on the Wylies’ lawn is a tripod and meter that Fox Islands Wind is using to measure sound levels, but that’s little comfort to Sally Wylie, who believes the computer modeling used to approve the project is wrong. The only solution now, she said, is to turn down the turbines to a point that they are quieter, but still produce an acceptable amount of power.
“It really boils down to what the community is going to accept,” she said.
Reducing sound cuts power
The task of trying to find a remedy for the noise complaints has fallen to George Baker, chief executive officer of Fox Islands Wind LLC.
Baker has spent the past two months taking sound measurements, studying computer models and talking to neighbors and the turbine manufacturer, General Electric. He slept one windy night at a vacant house 1,110 feet from two turbines, to experience the sound. He said he could hear the turbines but they weren’t particularly loud and didn’t prevent him from sleeping.
Baker recently e-mailed neighbors to outline his initial plans. Workers will make small modifications to the equipment. They’ll change the turbines’ gearbox ratio, for instance, and close air vents in the nacelles, the housing that covers components. Baker also is looking at adding sound-dampening insulation to the nacelles.
Another idea is to turn down the turbines, essentially slowing the blades’ rotational speed. Sound measurement in decibels is a logarithmic equation. That means cutting the output from 45 decibels — the state standard — to 42 decibels would cut sound volume in half.
The problem, Baker said, is slowing all three turbine blades that much would reduce power output 20 percent. That would translate into electric rates that are 20 percent higher.
Another approach is to turn down the turbines only when the sound is most annoying. Computers can do this, Baker said, but it’s a complicated calculation. He has begun collecting sound and wind speed data and trying to correlate it to what neighbors observe.
“I am hopeful we can figure out how to turn these things down when the sound is most troubling,” he said.
That’s also the hope of the Island Institute in Rockland, a development group that focuses on Maine’s 15 year-round island communities. It sees renewable energy as critical to maintaining sustainable, offshore communities in the 21st century. With Baker serving as the group’s vice president for community wind, the institute is working with residents on Monhegan, as well as Swans Island and neighboring Frenchboro, on Long Island, on turbine plans.
These islands have fewer residents, so they don’t need as much power, according to Philip Conkling, the group’s president. That means smaller systems.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another three-turbine wind farm on the coast of Maine,” Conkling said.
He said it will take careful study to find a solution on Vinalhaven. Hundreds of people stood near the spinning turbines at the ribbon-cutting, he noted, and no one complained.
“But when you live with them day in and day out, it’s a different experience,” he said.
Bill would change standards
A proposed bill in the Legislature would amend current noise standards to include low-frequency sound. These sounds are emitted by wind turbines and blades, but aren’t addressed by the rules, activists say.
“Maine’s noise regulations do not require the measurement of this low-frequency sound,” Steve Thurston, co-chairman of the Citizen’s Task Force on Wind Power, said in an e-mail. “By using the dBA scale only, it appears that turbine noise diminishes to acceptable levels before it reaches homes nearby.”
Complaints from people living near projects in Mars Hill and Freedom show otherwise, the group says. Now the same pattern is emerging on Vinalhaven.
House Speaker Hannah Pingree, who grew up on North Haven, is following the concerns closely. She’s a big supporter of renewable energy, but has come to recognize that the Vinalhaven project is causing real problems.
“I am in a very active learning mode on this subject,” she said.
Pingree doubts the noise bill will get a hearing in this short legislative session, but the state should examine the issue, she said, perhaps through a special task force.
In the meantime, some towns in Maine are enacting ordinances requiring a mile between turbines and homes. After Art Lindgren and Ethan Hall related their experiences in Buckfield earlier this month, residents overwhelmingly passed a six-month moratorium, aimed at a three-turbine proposal on Streaked Mountain.
This trend worries Baker at Fox Islands Wind. A mile setback makes community wind energy unfeasible, he said.
“Do we want to set rules that makes it impossible to do something that’s really good for a community because 10 percent of the people are bothered by it?” Baker asked.
SECOND FEATURE:
Opposition seek moratoriums on farms; Some landowners have reconsidered allowing turbines
SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
By Scott Williams
January 24, 2010
People who don’t want a wind farm in southern Brown County are organizing, and they’re getting help from a group that has stymied similar projects in nearby Calumet County.
Dozens of homeowners and others in the wind farm development site have joined forces under the name Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy.
The group is urging local officials to impose moratoriums on wind farm construction in an effort to slow or stop Invenergy LLC, a Chicago-based developer planning to erect 100 wind turbines south of Green Bay.
The moratorium approach is credited with blocking wind farm development in Calumet County.
Although the Calumet County opposition group organized before landowners had agreed to allow wind turbines on their property, Invenergy already has signed contracts with many landowners in the Brown County towns of Glenmore, Wrightstown, Morrison and Holland.
But opposition being generated by the newly organized group is prompting some landowners to reconsider their participation in the $300 million Invenergy project.
Wayside Dairy Farm owner Paul Natzke said he and his partners have been impressed by the opposition, and now they are rethinking a deal to allow six Invenergy turbines on their 1,000-acre farm.
“Our biggest concern is splitting the community,” Natzke said. “That’s the last thing we want to do.”
Invenergy spokesman Kevin Parzyck said the company is aware that organized opposition has surfaced in Brown County. Calling some wind farm criticisms “myths,” Parzyck said the company would respond to such concerns during the state licensing process, which includes public hearings.
The developers also will talk individually with property owners who have heard opposition and are having second thoughts about being part of the project, Parzyck said.
“We can put them at ease,” he said. “We are very straightforward and honest with people.”
The developer has supporters in Brown County, too, partly because it is offering property owners at least $7,000 a year to allow one of the wind turbines on their property.
Roland Klug, a participating landowner, is so excited about the project that he has recruited other property owners to get involved.
Referring to opponents’ concerns about health and safety risks, Klug said, “That’s all a lot of baloney.”
Invenergy submitted an application Oct. 28 to the state Public Service Commission for permission to develop the Ledge Wind Energy Project in southern Brown County. The plan calls for 54 wind turbines in Morrison, 22 in Holland, 20 in Wrightstown and four in Glenmore.
With the capacity to generate enough electricity to power about 40,000 homes, it would be the Brown County’s first major commercial wind farm. It also would be larger than any wind farm currently operating in Wisconsin.
Supporters say the project would bring economic development and clean energy to the area, while opponents fear the intrusion and potential health hazards of the 400-foot-tall turbines.
Jon Morehouse, a leading organizer of Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, said opposition has grown as more people learn of Invenergy’s plan.
Considering that the developers already have contracts with many landowners, Morehouse said he expects an uphill fight. But he said 100 people are involved in the group.
“It’s growing every day,” he said. “People are starting to see what’s happening.”
Members of Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy have approached town officials in Morrison and Wrightstown to request wind farm moratoriums.
It is a strategy that worked in Calumet County, where the County Board last year approved a countywide moratorium that has prevented any wind turbines from going up.
Ron Dietrich, spokesman for Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy, said a major wind farm likely would be operating in the county if his group had not organized and taken action. Although the success might be only temporary, Dietrich said it has allowed residents to study and debate the merits of wind energy.
“The process has slowed down,” he said, “and people are taking a second look at it.”
Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy plans a public forum on wind farms at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at Van Abel’s of Hollandtown, 8108 Brown County D, town of Holland. For more information about the group, go to www.bccrwe.com.
THIRD FEATURE:
Note from the BPWI Research Nerd:
Click on the image below to watch a video about the wind farm mentioned in the following story and its proximity to the Horicon Marsh.
Better Plan has added underlined bold type to indicate direct links with interviews and videos featuring people mentioned in this article, for those who would like to know more.
Francis Ferguson is Chariman of the Town of Byron. In this interview, Chairman Ferguson is open about receiving money for hosting a turbine in the project, that his neighbor has repeatedly complained and made "a hell of a stink" about the nosie, and that the turbines sound like a jet plane. From a 2008 interview [Click here to watch video and read transcript]
Q. Do you think -- I guess in your opinion, do is a 1000 feet is a good setback?
Chairman Ferguson: It isn't any too much. Because my tower up here on the hill is a thousand feet from Hickory road here. A guy built a new home there in the woods. And he's made a hell of a stink. He's filed a written complaint and he's really fighting it right now.
Q Is he a thousand feet away?
Chairman Ferguson: Yeah. And he claims it's noisy and it aggravates him.
Q Do you notice any noise here?
Chairman Ferguson: You can hear it.
Q What does it sound like?
Chairman Ferguson: Sounds like a jet plane.
Scroll to the bottom of this post to watch the full interview with Chairman Ferguson
Wind farms cause controversy among community
SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
By Scott Williams
January 24, 2010
BYRON — Looking south from the home his father built, Francis Ferguson can see two generations of energy production in vivid convergence.
Locomotives chugging through this section of Fond du Lac County carry shipments of coal along the Canadian National Railway to be incinerated at nearby electric power plants.
Just beyond the train tracks, enormous wind turbines rotate on the horizon, working to harness a blustery winter day and convert that energy, too, into electricity.Ferguson, who was born here during the Great Depression and now serves as Byron town chairman, is philosophical about the old-style trains crossing through the shadows of a wind farm that sprang up just two years ago.
“It is a change,” he said. “You can’t sit and wait for the future to be the same as the past — it isn’t going to happen.”
Across town, Larry Wunsch stands beneath a 400-foot wind turbine towering over the home that he and his wife bought seven years ago because they wanted to live in the country.
Situated about 500 feet from Wunsch’s property line, the spinning giant casts a flickering shadow at certain times of day. It also occasionally emits a noise that Wunsch likens to a jet airplane.
At least a dozen other turbines dot the surrounding countryside.
Wunsch and his wife, Sharon, have stopped trying to live with the disruptions. They are getting ready to put their home up for sale.
“This is not for me,” he said. “It’s an invasion.”
For Tom Byl and Rose Vanderzwan, wind turbines are not only welcome, they are like home.
The young couple came to Wisconsin nine years ago from their native Netherlands, where wind energy has been part of the culture for generations. When developers needed locations in Fond du Lac County to erect wind turbines, Byl and Vanderzwan were happy to accommodate.
The couple, who have four small children, collect $17,500 a year for permitting three turbines on their Oak Lane Road dairy farm.
Some neighbors opposed to the wind farm are so upset that they no longer speak with Byl and Vanderzwan. But the couple makes no apologies.
“I really like them,” Vanderzwan said of the turbines. “I think they’re beautiful. And I think it’s a good idea to get some cheaper energy.”
Hardly anyone around here, it seems, is lacking in a strong opinion about wind farms, whether favorable or critical. Living on the cutting edge of energy policy reform does not lend itself to feelings of ambivalence.
Long after it began operating south of Fond du Lac with more than 80 wind turbines, the Forward Wind Energy Center divides residents as sharply as it did when the project was announced five years ago.
Opponents of the operations insist that wind turbines are jeopardizing people’s health and destroying the area’s peaceful aesthetics. Supporters, meanwhile, remain equally certain that wind energy is liberating the United States from both air pollution and dependence on foreign oil.
As state leaders push mandates for alternative energy sources, the debate that has absorbed neighbors here could soon reach a growing number of town halls. At least 20 other commercial wind farms are being planned or developed in Manitowoc County, Outagamie County and elsewhere.
One project proposed south of Green Bay in the towns of Glenmore, Morrison, Holland and Wrightstown would include 100 turbines, making it Wisconsin’s largest wind farm. Known as the Ledge Wind Energy Park, it would be built by Invenergy LLC, the same Chicago-based group that developed and operates the Forward project in southern Fond du Lac County and northern Dodge County.
With state public hearings expected later this year on the $300 million Brown County project, opponents are beginning to organize.
Invenergy vice president Bryan Schueler, however, said his company has found support for the project, which he said would be virtually identical to the Forward wind farm.
The company offers landowners compensation — typically $5,000 to $7,000 a year — for allowing a wind turbine on their property.
Schuler said wind farms draw public support not only because of the thousands of dollars paid to landowners, but because of economic activity resulting from the capital investment, construction activity and job creation. Residents also generally take pride in knowing that they are contributing to the growth of a clean energy alternative, he said.
“Every project will have some opposition, as with anything that is new to a community,” he said. “For every opponent, there’s usually many, many more supporters.”
When the Forward project was proposed in the summer of 2004, much of the opposition stemmed from its proximity to the Horicon Marsh, a wildlife refuge known for its populations of geese, herons and other birds. The 32,000-acre marsh is about two miles from the wind turbines.
Despite environmental concerns, the state’s Public Service Commission approved the project in 2005, and the turbines were up and running by 2008 in the towns of Byron, Oakfield, Leroy and Lomira.
The operation has the capacity to generate enough electricity to power some 35,000 homes.
Since the turbines started spinning, the state Department of Natural Resources says it has recorded bird and other wildlife deaths attributed to the wind farm at a higher-than-average rate.
Dave Siebert, director of the DNR’s energy office, said the national average for wind farms is slightly more than two bird deaths annually per wind turbine. As many as 10 deaths per turbine have been recorded at Forward. While his agency is not alarmed about the data, Siebert said officials hope to raise the issue when the Ledge Wind project comes up for regulatory review.
“Every next project, we learn a little bit more,” he said.
For many residents in and around the Forward Wind Energy Center, the biggest concern is how the turbines are affecting their quality of life.
Some residents complain that the spinning turbines are noisy, that they create annoying sunlight flicker, that they disrupt TV reception and that they destroy the area’s appearance.
“I think it’s ugly and noisy,” said Maureen Hanke, who lives in Mayville just west of the wind farm.
Gerry Meyer, a retired Byron postal carrier, is certain that turbines near his property have contributed to sleeplessness, headaches and other health problems for him and his family.
Saying that he turned down Invenergy’s offer of compensation, Meyer said: “I consider it bribe money.”
Others find the wind farm easy to tolerate — and even enjoy.
Alton Rosenkranz, who operates an apple orchard in Brownsville, said turbines positioned about 300 feet from his property generate the slightest “woof, woof, woof” sound. Rosenkranz said the noise does not bother him or his customers. In fact, he suspects the novelty of the wind farm is good for business.
“People come out to look at it,” he said. “And they buy apples.”
Many property owners receive payments of $500 a year from Invenergy if one of their neighbors has allowed a turbine to be erected too close for comfort.
Glenn Kalkhoff Jr., who lives in Byron, said the company also is providing him with free satellite dish service because he complained that turbines were disrupting his TV reception. Kalkhoff said he has no other complaints.
“You get a little whooshing sound once in a while,” he said. “That doesn’t bother me.”
Homeowners who have permitted Invenergy onto their property said the company is easy to work with and that the compensation has helped their families endure tough economic times.
But supporting the developers also has exacted a price for some in the form of lost friendships with wind farm opponents.
Byron farmer Lyle Hefter said he gets $10,000 a year for allowing two turbines on his dairy farm. He also received another payment — he will not say how much — to lease seven acres for a substation where Invenergy employees work.
Each of the turbines uses about one-third of an acre. Hefter said he has no problem working around the obstacles, and whatever noise they generate normally is drowned out by farm equipment, passing trains or other outdoor sounds.
“You don’t even know they’re here,” he said.
An organized group of opponents, known as Horicon Marsh Advocates, fought diligently to block the Forward project. The group no longer is active, but individual members remain vocal about their opposition.
Some opponents have made videos and kept other records to document what they consider the intrusive and unhealthy effects of living near a wind farm.
Curt Kindschuh, a former leader of the opposition group, said lingering disagreement has created lasting ill will among friends and neighbors. Kindschuh said he no longer is on speaking terms with a cousin who joined other landowners in welcoming Invenergy into the community.
Even at a family funeral long after the wind farm was approved, Kindschuh said, he did not share a word with his cousin.
“That’s the sad part,” he said. “There’s so many people out here with so many hard feelings.”
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Brown County WI, Glenmore WI, Holland WI, Invenergy WI, Ledge Wind Invenergy, Morrison WI, Wisconsin wind power, Wrightswood WI, wind energy, wind farm lease, wind farm noise, wind shadow flicker
|
Comments Off
1/20/10 Dead Corporation Walking: What's Enron got to do with the Wind Industry? AND what does that have to do with the value of ag land? AND what happens if you sell your house without telling the buyer about the proposed wind farm?
Wind Industry Background Check:
The current 'Wind Industry' as it stands would not exist without Enron. This short summary from the University of Iowa explains the connection:
SOURCE: University of Iowa, Center for Agricultural Taxation
"Wind Energy Production: Legal Issues and Related Liability Concerns for Landowners in Iowa and Across the Nation"
Click here to download entire document.
OVERVIEW:
Farmers have long used wind energy. Beginning in the 1800’s, farmers installed several million windmills across the Midwest and Plains to pump water and generate power for lights and radios.
Today, farmers, ranchers, and other rural landowners in suitable areas are utilizing wind energy in a different manner.
But, where did the current emphasis on wind generation of electricity come from?
There were early attempts dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s and early 1990s, that Enron (an energy company based in Houston, TX) lobbied the Congress with a friendly “renewable energy” project, and packaged it with their “electricity deregulation” lobbying and political efforts.
Their efforts were successful in getting laws passed at both the federal and state levels that would permit them to tie into the grid, require utilities to buy unreliable and unpredictable electricity (i.e., electricity generated by wind) under Renewable Portfolio Standards, allow them to sell “renewable energy certificates” separate and apart from the electricity, and utilize a newly created production tax credit and take advantage of a special accelerated depreciation rule.
SECOND FEATURE:
More from the University of Iowa report: Property Values
"At the present time, anecdotal data indicates that wind turbines have a depressing effect on nearby land values and are a drag on the ag real estate market.
Most recent anecdotal data from Illinois indicates that assessed value on farmland is dropping approximately 22-30 percent on farmland that is near land where wind turbines
have been placed.Also, the increased risk of getting sued for nuisance has a dampening effect on value. Likewise, the annual payments, to an extent, are replacement income for the property rights that have been given up in getting the turbines in the first place.
Many of the agreements are quite restrictive in terms of potential development of the property, farming activities, placement of buildings, etc.
A willing buyer would take all of those factors into consideration when determining what price to pay for the property "
- "Wind Energy Production: Legal Issues and Related Liability Concerns for Landowners in Iowa and Across the Nation"
University of Iowa, Center for Agricultural Taxation
THIRD FEATURE:
Note from the BPWI research nerd: In an already depressed housing market, those who live in areas where wind farms have been proposed have a new problem to contend with when trying to sell their homes. Will the disclosure about the coming wind farm help or hurt the sale? What happens if you sell your home without disclosing it?
More from the University of Iowa report: Contractual Issues
In a recent New York case, the plaintiff bought the defendant’s farm (including the residence) and sought to have the sale contract rescinded based on the seller’s alleged fraud and misrepresentations for not disclosing that plans were in the works for the construction of large wind turbines on an adjacent parcel.
The plaintiffs submitted the affidavit of a neighbor of the defendant who detailed two conversations with the defendant that occurred months before the defendant put his farm on the market during which the wind farm development was discussed.
The defendant, at that time, stated that the presence of commercial wind turbines on the adjacent tract would “force” him to sell his farm.
When the plaintiff sought to rescind the contract, the defendant claimed he had no duty to the plaintiff and that the doctrine of caveat emptor (“buyer beware”) was a complete defense to the action.
The court denied summary judgment for the seller and allowed the case to go to trial.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Enron, Invenergy, Wisconsin wind farm, farmer landowner host wind turbine, wind developer, wind energy, wind farm contract, wind farm lease, wind farm property values, wind farm ringing in ears, wind power, wind turbine noise
|
Comments Off
1/18/09 DOUBLE FEATURE: How will you know if a wind farm is going to be built around your home? Will it be before the trucks start hauling the turbine blades past your house? AND In Brown County Wisconsin, the Dr. is IN
Near Town of Byron, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. Turbine construction phase of Invenergy Forward Energy Wind Farm. Photo by Gerry Meyer
How will you know if wind developers have targeted your community? If you're lucky there may be something about it in the local paper, or something may be listed on the published agenda for the Town board meeting.
In the past, developers were very open with the community about their plans. They changed that once people began to oppose projects. Now they are more likely to keep news of wind farms a secret from the community until key landowners are signed up.
Wisconsin's recently passed turbine siting reform legislation requires that only neighbors directly adjacent to a hosting landowners property be notified that wind turbines are about to go in near their homes.
This notification does not have to happen until the wind developer submits a formal application for the project to the Town board and/or the Public Service Commission.
A developer won't file an application until enough landowners are signed up, so by the time you find out about it, the project may well be on its way. That's what happened to one of our neighbors to the north who tells us his story here
Commentaries: Study of wind project may blow you away
By: Erin Logan, Zumbrota,
January 17, 2010
I found out by pure accident my home is in the Goodhue Wind Project area by looking at the map published Dec. 9 Zumbro Shopper. What a surprise. Why wasn’t I notified?
I received a packet in the mail sometime around Dec. 15 from a Twin Cities attorney; let’s just call it “notification.” I decided I better read the information to find out what it means to be in the Goodhue Wind Project.
The 212-page document is a dry read, but some interesting information caught my attention. It includes a site map identifying homes and proposed placement of the 400-foot tall wind turbines.
To my surprise my home does not exist on the proposed project map, but it does show a wind turbine 100 feet from my home and two more within 1,500 feet. I wonder how many other homes have been omitted from or wiped off the map?
Let me share a few things I have learned since I read through this packet.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over this project due its size. The public can submit comments regarding the permit application until Jan. 22. I will definitely take advantage of this opportunity, although I’m not sure how much good it will do.
I understand the PUC was made aware of homes not included in the project application, but were not concerned with the detail of the site plan.
Reading through information on the PUC Web site I learned a state statute allows our county commissioners to adopt more stringent zoning ordinances for Large Wind Energy Conversion Systems. This means our local elected officials have the authority to define what is best for Goodhue County residents regarding this project.
The purpose of the setback is to protect adjacent landowners if the turbine falls over, mitigate noise levels and shadow flicker that may be imposed on their homes. It will also provide protection if any ice builds up on the blades, breaks off and plummets 400 feet to the ground.
I have learned that current Goodhue County zoning setback requirements do not allow a wind turbine to be erected within 750 feet of a dwelling. This is reciprocal in that a dwelling cannot be constructed within 750 feet of a wind turbine.
Hmmm, I think I just lost the right to build an attached garage or an addition between my house and that wind turbine 750 feet away.
The property line setbacks are less stringent: 500 feet for a 400-foot tall wind turbine.
I encourage anyone who has an unoccupied residence or temporary dwelling in place to speak up. This project could restrict where you are allowed to build on your property.
Gaps in the system like this make it clear to me we are not prepared to endorse a project of this magnitude. This is new territory that warrants some education in lieu of assuming we can rely on outdated regulations to provide safety, health and well-being to Goodhue County residents.
As I read through this permit application I see inaccurate data, incomplete information and open-ended statements. There are far too many to include in detail, so I’ll share a few of the items that seem fairly important to me.
• Actual wind turbine size — The permit application states that this can be changed to meet the needs of the project. Will they be 300 feet, 400 feet or taller?
• Equipment specifications — The application identifies the sound level created by the smallest wind turbine they would choose to install. This data is used to determine the distance the wind turbine can be located from your residence while ensuring they don’t exceed the maximum amount of noise pollution you can be subjected to.
• Project decommissioning — As stated in the application, all above-ground equipment and foundations, to a depth of 4 feet, will be removed. This does not meet Goodhue County Ordinance, Article 18, Section 5, Subd. 10.
• Economic impact — This is such a multi-faceted topic, but it is good to note the claim that the local economy will benefit from the dollars the project will pay in state and local taxes and the long-term beneficial impacts to the counties’ tax base. Take a look at the corporate Web site — http://www.nationalwind.com/minnesota_wind_facts — which lists the financial incentives for wind projects. The way I read that information, this project will be exempt from both property and sales tax.
I would also like to know what kind of long-term impacts this will have on local and county roadway lifecycles.
I hope enough people encourage our commissioners to update zoning ordinances to adequately mitigate the impact of a Large Wind Energy Conversion System on Goodhue County residents.
For anyone who thinks this doesn’t affect them, keep in mind wind conditions are similar throughout Goodhue County and there is a lot of land out there. Implementing this project may open the door for wind turbines in your neighborhood.
I need more information before I can make an educated decision on whether this project will be a benefit or a detriment. Perhaps others in and around the Goodhue Wind Project area have received more information.
This is a community-based project, yet I have never had one of the local representatives stop by during one of the many trips they’ve made past my home. I believe that a good idea is worth talking about, so why all of the secrecy?
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Law firms are beginning to directly address the issue of wind farm leases and land rights on behalf of landowners. To read a post called "Reasons to be Careful with Wind Leases" on the website of one such law firm in Minnesota, CLICK HERE.
For more on Wind Power Law, visit
SECOND FEATURE
This comes to us courtesy of another Wisconsin group-- Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy ( BCCRWE.)
If you know anyone in Brown County, you may want to let them know that a big wind farm is coming their way. To link them to the BCCRWE website CLICK HERE
The following letter was written and read by Dr. Herb Coussons before the Morrison town board a their last town board meeting:
January 8, 2010
RE: Proposed Ledge Wind Project
TO: The Town Boards of Wrightstown, Morrison, Holland and Ledgeview
I am writing to summarize what I believe are real and previously unconsidered effects of building wind turbines among populated residential and farming areas.
The current zoning standards do not take into consideration the growing evidence regarding the adverse health risks of placing wind turbines closer than 1.5 miles from residences.
Multiple studies and case reports are being published that systematically record a group of symptoms that seems to occur in about 10% of individuals who live within 1.5 miles of wind turbines.
These symptoms included but are not limited to: sleep disturbances, chronic headaches, migraines, ringing in the ears, visceral vibratory vestibular disturbance, decreased abilities in memory and concentration, fatigue, irritability and upper respiratory ailments.
Many of these symptoms were not present prior to individuals living in the vicinity of the wind turbines and resolved when the affected people were able to move away from the turbines. Most of the case reports show that the individuals have no emotional disturbances that would lead to anxiety and fear as a cause of their new symptoms. Children seem to be affected by the same symptoms only they are manifest in different ways such as nightmares and bedwetting or decreased school performance and behavior problems.
There are now many published reports in the US, Canada, England, Europe, and New Zealand that refer to this consistent cluster of symptoms as “Wind Turbine Syndrome.” There are also governmental agencies and health organizations that have spoken out on the topic, including: Health Canada, the NIH, the French National Academy of Medicine, The Maine Medical Association, the Minnesota Department of Public Health, the Government of the State of Victoria Australia, the Japanese Minister of Environment, and the US National Research Council.
The symptoms experienced by humans may also be seen more seriously and widespread in animals leading to adverse consequences. Wild animals that have highly developed senses of hearing and vibration (bats, snakes, deer, turkey, and birds) virtually disappear from large wind developments. Domestic farm animals such as chickens, goats, and cattle are all reported to display adverse behaviors, as well as reproduction abnormalities and even death. There are many case reports of decreased dairy production and egg production in farm animals that are reversed when the animals are moved away from wind turbines.
Animal studies and human data are mounting that the adverse symptoms are related to several direct effects of the wind turbines. 1) Audible noise, 2) Low frequency noise, 3) Shadow flicker, and 4) Mixed sensory input (confusing and unrelenting sensations that conflict in the brain).
The audible noise above 30-35dB (A-weighted measurements) is enough to disturb sleep. Chronic sleep disturbance can lead to fatigue, decreased memory and concentration, chronic headaches, weight gain, hypertension and cardiovascular deterioration. 30dB is the limit recommended by the World Health Organization as the maximum noise level at nighttime outside of a home. Most of the local ordinances allow up to 50dB up to 10% of the time, and exclude measurements if the wind is blowing greater than 30mph.
The Low frequency noise (C-weighted measurements) is not always audible yet the body feels the vibration and it stimulates the hearing and balance parts of the inner ear. This type of noise may also resonate in body cavities leading to chest pressure and a sense of motion. The results are nausea, vomiting and motion sickness. In fact such low frequency noise is so unpleasant, it has been used in the Middle East as a weapon for crowd control. The recommended maximum intensity of C-weighted measurements is 20dB outside of a home. Most of the local ordinances do not mention C-weighted measurements despite the fact that most wind turbine noise is low frequency.
Shadow-flicker triggers a reflexive response in animals that results in a flight or flight response leading to an increased heart rate, muscle tension and a sense of movement. Shadow-flicker and noise can be reduced by increasing the distance from the wind turbine.
These sensory inputs, audible noise, low frequency vibration/inaudible noise, and shadow flicker present conflicting sensations to the brain resulting in worsening symptoms of migraines, anxiety, nausea, vomiting.
There are other practical risks as well. According to the Caithness Windfarm Information Forum, from 1999 through June 2008 there were over 500 accidents around the world, including North America, involving ice throws, blade disintegration, fire and tower failure from large wind turbines. If improperly sited, wind energy systems produce electro-magnetic radiation that can interfere with broadcast communications and signals. They even create signals on Doppler weather radar simulating severe weather thereby making any weather warnings in our area limited. There are dangers and restrictions in flight activity due to potential collisions with aircraft. This limitation has resulted in rescue helicopters not landing in wind farms.
Much of this information has been understood as wind turbine developments grow across Europe, Canada, Australia and the US.
As I have read the studies and case reports from across the US and the world, as well as listening to residents of the development around Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, I have become convinced that the health and safety of those living closer than 2500 feet to wind turbines will be adversely effected. Some living within 1.5 miles may show severe signs of wind turbine syndrome.
These facts were not well known or considered prior to 2007 when many of the ordinances were written. Now due to greater knowledge and more experience, we must consider the more recent conservative site requirements for example in the Town of Union in Rock County Wisconsin. http://www.tn.union.wi.gov/Docs_by_cat_type.asp?doccatid=200&locid=123 <http://www.tn.union.wi.gov/Docs_by_cat_type.asp?doccatid=200&locid=123>
I would recommend anyone to review their ordinance, which has extensive documentation on the rationale behind their more restrictive requirements when compared to the state of Wisconsin. Their diligence in research and enacting an ordinance based on the current evidence should be respected and imitated.
If the current setbacks of 1000 feet and maximum audible noise measurements of 50dB are utilized, then I believe that up to 80% of people exposed to these levels of audible noise, low frequency noise and shadow flicker will feel some adverse health symptoms. Because of these conclusions, I would hope that our local town boards will consider a moratorium on wind development until they can consider the evidence that shows the health and safety risks of wind developments such as the Ledge Wind Farm and provide the leadership by enacting ordinances that reflect the current understanding of these health and safety risks imposed by wind turbines sited close to residences and businesses in our communities.
Respectfully,
Herb Coussons, MD
6649 Ledgetop Dr
Greenleaf, WI
920-639-8434
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Fond du lac county wind farm, Invenergy, Wisconsin wind farm, farmer landowner host wind turbine, wind developer, wind energy, wind farm contract, wind farm lease, wind farm property values, wind farm ringing in ears, wind power, wind turbine noise
|
Comments Off
1/17/09 State to wind farm residents: We'll give you this big nickel if you sacrifice that little dime-
Click on the image above to hear what turbines can sound like on a bad day. This video was shot by a resident of the Invenrgy Forward Energy project near the Town of Byron in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. The closest turbine to his house is less than 1600 feet away.
Are setbacks and noise limits a public health issue or a profitability issue ?
Profitability for a wind project relies on the same short setbacks and inadequate noise limits that cause problems for residents forced to live with them.
Initially, Wisconsin families complaining of harm due to short setbacks and inadequate noise limits were not believed and even openly ridiculed, particularly by wind developers and lobbyists.
In granting recent approval for the Glacier Hills wind project, the Public Service Commission admitted the problems do exist, and some residents will be bothered by turbine noise and shadow flicker. The commission even suggested the utility consider a buyout of the most severely affected homes.
Now that the PSC has acknowledged the problem, the attitude toward wind farm resident's complaints and concerns has changed. The harm caused to families by inadequate setbacks is now considered unfortunate but acceptable collateral damage, a minor concern when weighed against the greater good.
But what is the greater good in the case of Glacier Hills? Most of us assume it's the reduction of green house gas emissions by using wind power.
In a post hearing brief submitted to the PSC, Clean Wisconsin states:
"If the Commission allows WEPCO to continue construct Glacier Hills and operate all of its existing coal-fired capacity, WEPCO’s rate-payers will be paying over $525 million for a new facility that is not needed to satisfy demand and will not result in overall CO2 emission reductions."
Which begs the question: If there is to be no reduction in CO2 emissions, what is the state getting in exchange for forcing Wisconsin families to sacrifice their health, well being, and property value?
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: It's not just Wisconsin residents who are being forced to make questionable sacrifices. Click on the image below to hear about sacrifices our neighbors to the north are forced to make. An Ontairo dairy farmer speaks about wind leases, turbine related negative health effects and electrical pollution
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Fond du lac county wind farm, Invenergy, Wisconsin wind farm, farmer landowner host wind turbine, wind developer, wind energy, wind farm contract, wind farm lease, wind farm property values, wind farm ringing in ears, wind power, wind turbine noise
|
Comments Off