Entries in wind farm noise (219)
6/23/10 Ramming it through: Straw votes to be taken today at Wind Siting Council meeting
WIND SITING COUNCIL MEETING NOTICE
Monday, June 23, 2010, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Flambeau River Conference Room (3rd Floor)
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, WisconsinAudio or video of the meeting will be broadcast from the PSC Website beginning at 1:30.
CLICK HERE to visit the PSC website, click on the button on the left that says "Live Broadcast". Sometimes the meetings don't begin right on time. The broadcasts begin when the meetings do so keep checking back if you don't hear anything at the appointed start time.
What's on the agenda
1) Welcome/Review of today’s agenda
2) Review and adoption of meeting minutes of June 21, 2010
3) Background information on questions raised by Council regarding the draft rules
a. Commission noise measurement protocol
b. Takings
c. Property value protection plans
4) Amendments to straw proposal for Council’s recommendations to Commission regarding
draft rules
a. Discuss proposed amendments to straw proposal
b. Straw poll regarding proposed amendments to straw proposal
5) Next steps/Discussion of next meeting’s time, place and agenda
6) Adjourn
This meeting is open to the public.
If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please contact Deborah
Erwin at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin by telephone at (608) 266-3905 or
via e-mail at deborah.erwin@wisconsin.gov.
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD:
Better Plan contacted the PSC to ask why today's meeting was not posted on the event calendar until this morning. Notice of open meetings must be given at least 24 hours in advance. We were told the event calendar postings at the PSC website are a courtesy, but not the official posting place for open meetings.
Better Plan is now trying to find out where the official postings can be found.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm health effects, wind farm contract, wind farm easement, wind farm noise, wind farm property values, wind farm shadow flicker, wind farm wild life, wind siting council, wind turbine noise, wisconsin public service comission
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6/22/10 When the majority of the Wind Siting Council Members have a direct or indirect financial interest in as few regulations as possible, money talks, direct experience, health, safety and property values walk AND Have your say: PSC schedules hearings on the new draft rules for siting wind turbines.... which look an awful lot like the old rules that have caused so much trouble.
Click on the images above to hear nighttime turbine noise and see what shadow flicker looks like. The Wind Siting Council draft rules say 20-25 hours of this each year is permissible on non-participating homes. If there is more than this, the developer or operator will give you window blinds.
Read the daily diary of the family that lives in this house by clicking here.
Dissent delays wind council’s progress
June 22, 2010
Deadline pressure and 100 amendments are cracking the unity of the state‘s Wind Siting Council as it strives to agree on turbine placement standards.
Even the definition of agreement is a point of contention among the 15 members. The state law that formed the council requires only that the panel make recommendations that will go to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and, ultimately, the state Legislature.
But some council members insist they will testify against recommendations not based on a consensus vote.
“I told them they can come in with studies and articles and hearsay,” said Larry Wunsch, a Brownsville resident and council member. “I come in with experience. I live in a wind farm, and I can tell you what it looks like and how it sounds.
“But if they’re going to go with majority rule, then, yeah, I would argue against it at future hearings.”
The council is designed to establish turbine placement standards for wind farms that generate less than 100 megawatts of electricity. The PSC already reviews wind farms that generate more than 100 megawatts.
The PSC intends to finalize rules based on the council’s recommendations by Sept. 1, PSC spokeswoman Teresa Weidemann-Smith said.
Public hearings on draft rules begin next week, and the public comment period for recommendations ends July 7.
That puts the council on a tight timeline to finish its work, said Michael Vickerman, a member of the council and executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization focused on clean energy.
The council also is working through 100 amendments members proposed for the draft rules. But George Krause Jr., a council member, said the panel is moving through those amendments too fast.
“If we’re going to put something together, we need the proper time to get something done,” he said. “This is a very challenging process, and I’ve found this to be a very, very challenging council to sit on.”
But disagreement over amendments such as setbacks from property lines — rather than from buildings — is slowing the council’s progress. Although some members on Monday argued for property lines, the majority sided with setbacks from buildings.
Wunsch, who wanted setbacks from property lines, said similar divisions are forming around many council discussions. The final product, he said, could be based on the majority’s opinion rather than the full council’s.
“When it comes to property values, setback, sound and shadow flicker, I don’t think there’s going to be consensus,” Wunsch said. “I think it’s a pro-wind heavy council. I’m not there to say I’m anti-wind. I think we’ve had some good dialogue. But we have to address every issue.”
Tom Meyer, another commission member, said he too would oppose a final rule based on majority rather than consensus.
“I don’t think our role is to make turbine business easier in Wisconsin,” he said. “It’s to make rules. This isn’t a matter of compromise; it’s a matter of science.”
Vickerman said he doubts there will be consensus. But, he said, the council represents a wide array of experience and interest, and the PSC and Legislature must take that into account when approving rules for wind turbine placement.
“Those who oppose wind have already made their minds up,” Vickerman said. “We can have a dialogue with them, but I don’t think we can have a meeting of the minds.”
Second Feature:
HEARINGS SET ON WIND PROJECT SITING RULES
SOURCE: Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com
June 22, 2010
By Thomas Content
Public hearings are planned next week on a proposal aimed at adopting uniform siting rules for wind power projects in the state.
The public hearings and a rulemaking are part of a process launched by the state Legislature when it passed a uniform siting law last year. The legislation essentially delegated to the Public Service Commission decisions on the thorny and controversial questions raised by supporters and opponents of wind power projects at hearings in the Legislature last year.
Questions that must be resolved include how far a wind turbine must be placed from a nearby property or home, and what maximum noise standards should be. The PSC has released an initial proposal for public comment, and an advisory council created by the legislation is also studying the issue.
Public hearings will take place Monday in Fond du Lac, Tuesday, June 29 in Tomah and Wednesday in Madison. Hearings will begin at 1 and 6 p.m. each day. More details about the hearings can be found here.
The legislation was aimed at replacing a patchwork of different rules and moratoriums that have been imposed by counties and towns around the state for small wind power projects.
HAVE YOU REACHED OUT AND TOUCHED YOUR PSC TODAY?
The PSC is asking for public comment on the recently approved draft siting rules. The deadline for comment is July 7th, 2010.
The setback recommended in this draft is 1250 feet from non-participating homes, 500 feet from property lines.
CLICK HERE and type in docket number 1-AC-231 to read what's been posted so far.
CLICK HERE to leave a comment on the Wind Siting Council Docket
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wisconsin wind siting council, wind developer, wind farm complaints, wind farm contracts, wind farm easements, wind farm noise, wind farm ordinances, wind farm property values, wind farm setbacks, wind farm shadow flicker, wind farm wildlife, wisconsin PSC
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6/21/10 Why did the Brown County Board of Health say no to Invenergy's wind project proposal?
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Brown County, Invenergy, Ledge Wind, Wind farm health effects, wind farm contract, wind farm noise, wind farm propery values, wind farm shadow flicker, wind farm wild life, wind farm wisconsin
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6/21/10 PASSING THE BUCK: Driven from your home by wind turbine noise in a PSC approved wind farm? Who ya gonna call? Not the PSC.
“The PSC has ruled that it won’t do anything to help people who are having problems with wind farms and has basically told them to take their case to civil court”
The former home of Ann and Jason Wirtz now sits abandoned near the Forward Energy Wind Center, which went online in 2008 in Brownsville. (Photo by Dave Wasinger)
CLICK HERE to read about the family who once lived in this home.
PSC REJECTS OAKFIELD FAMILY'S WIND FARM CLAIM
SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter, www.fdlreporter.com
June 21, 2010 By Colleen Kottke,
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has rejected a complaint filed by an Oakfield family about the Forward Energy Wind Center.
Jason and Ann Wirtz contended that the Forward Energy Wind Center cost them their alpaca-breeding business and created such significant health problems for the family that they were eventually forced out of their home.
PSC Chairman Eric Callisto said the commission is not the proper forum for personal injury claims.
In the claim, the Wirtzes asked the PSC to reopen the Forward Wind Energy Center proceedings to hold a hearing about prior health claims from residents living within the wind farm. The Wirtzes hoped to convince the PSC at a hearing to require Invenergy to compensate the family for prior damages.
The Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office advised the PSC that it cannot do so.
In a 12-page decision released on June 18, the PSC said that according to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the agency has no legal basis to assert jurisdiction over a lawsuit filed in April by the Wirtz family that claims the wind farm caused them personal injury and diminished their property value.
Disappointment
Madison-based attorney Ed Marion, who represents the Wirtzes, said the decision handed down last week was a disappointment.
“The PSC has ruled that it won’t do anything to help people who are having problems with wind farms and has basically told them to take their case to civil court,” Marion said.
The couple purchased the sprawling farmhouse on County Trunk YY in Dodge County in 1996 and said they poured countless hours and money into remodeling the home and upgrading the property.
Before the wind farm went on line, the Wirtz family made the decision to sell their home and eight-acre property appraised at $320,000. With no buyers, the Wirtzes eventually pulled the home off the market in 2008.
The family argued to the PSC that the noise and vibration from the nearby wind turbines caused sleep deprivation, headaches and other physical ailments. In addition, the Wirtzes said their alpaca-breeding herd was adversely affected.
The Wirtzes abandoned their home last year and moved to Oakfield. The home was sold at a sheriff’s sale in May for $106,740.
Ann Wirtz said she wasn’t “shocked” by the PSC’s decision.
“We’re not sure what we’re going to do right now,” she said. “We’re still exploring input for our legal options.”
While the family could file a lawsuit in civil court, they also have the right to appeal the PSC decision.
Monday, June 21, 2010, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Flambeau River Conference Room (3rd Floor)
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, WisconsinAudio or video of the meeting will be broadcast from the PSC Website beginning at 1:30.
CLICK HERE to visit the PSC website, click on the button on the left that says "Live Broadcast". Sometimes the meetings don't begin right on time. The broadcasts begin when the meetings do so keep checking back if you don't hear anything at the appointed start time.
FROM WIND SITING COUNCIL MEMBER, MICHAEL VICKERMAN:
“You can’t stop a project in Wisconsin based on the appearance of these turbines,” [Michael Vickerman] says, “so over the past seven years the opposition has refined its arguments and framed them in the realm of protecting public health and safety. Here, as far as I’m concerned, is where they reveal their antiwind bias.
They allege that they can’t sleep, they suffer from nausea—they express their discomfort in the most hysterical terms, and I think they basically work themselves into a very visceral hatred for wind. I don’t even know if they have a philosophical objection to wind. They’re maybe congenitally unhappy people and they needed to project their fears and anxieties and resentments onto something new that comes into the neighborhood and disrupts things.”
-Chicago Reader, May 14, 2009
Note from the BPWI Research Nerd: For those who have not been following the Wirtz family story, we re-post a story written by Lynda Barry after an interview with Ann and Jason Wirtz in June of 2009 before they moved from their home because of wind turbine noise.
Lynda Barry is a Wisconsin writer who is currently doing research for a book about life in Wisconsin's industrial wind projects.
Interview with Ann and Jason Wirtz
N1157 Hwy YY
Oakfield, WI 53065
Dodge County, Wisconsin
Conducted on the evening of May 2, 2009
WIND TURBINE NOISE FORCES WISCONSIN FAMILY TO ABANDON HOME
TOWN OF OAKFIELD- Ann and Jason Wirtz have a pretty Wisconsin farmhouse near the Town of Oakfield. It’s the kind of place that had people stopping by to ask if the family would consider selling it.
“They’d just pull into our driveway,” says Ann, a mother of four. “There were people who said if we ever decided to sell it, we should call them.”
Although turn-of-the-century house needed a lot of work when they bought it, the Wirtz family didn’t mind. They planned to stay. Both Ann and Jason grew up in the area and wanted to raise their children there.
“I thought we were going to live here for the rest of our lives.” says Ann. “I thought one of our kids was going to live here after us.”
This was before 86 industrial wind turbines went up around their home as part of the Chicago based Invenergy's Forward Energy wind project which began operation in March of 2008. The closest turbine is to the Wirtz home is less than 1300 feet from their door.
“Last night it was whining,” said Ann. “It wasn’t just the whoosh whoosh whoosh or the roaring. It was a high pitched whine. And I don’t just hear them, I can feel them.”
She describes a feeling like a beat in her head, a pulse that matches the turbine’s rhythm. “Last night was really bad,” she said.
She says she knows which nights are going to be loud by which way the turbine blades are facing, and her family dreads the nights when the wind is out of the west. “That’s when they are the loudest.”
Jason said he found out there was a wind farm planned for his area from a neighbor he ran into at the post office. “He asked me if I knew anything about the turbines coming in. I didn’t.” Jason came home and mentioned it to Ann.
“When I first heard about it I wasn’t that alarmed.” says Ann, “People were saying how bad they could be, but I just didn’t believe them at first.”
She assumed the turbines would be sited much further away from her home, unaware of the controversy over the setbacks approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin which allows turbines to be sited close as 1000 feet to the homes of people like the Wirtzes.
“All those orange flags they put in were way back there. I was thinking it wouldn’t be too bad. And then when that access road started coming in so close I said, ‘what the heck is going on?’
Meanwhile, Jason had been attending town meetings and learning more about the project. The more he learned, the more worried he became. Five months before the turbines went up, the Wirtz family decided to sell their house.
They called people who had let them know they’d be interested in buying it. “When they found out about the turbines,” said Ann, “They weren’t interested anymore.”
The Wirtz family prepared the house to put on the market. In November of 2007, the home, sitting on eight acres, was appraised for $320,000. But this once sought-after property could find no buyers. “As soon as people found out about the wind farm coming in,” says Ann. “That was it. And once they started building the roads to the turbines, forget it. They’d ask what that road was for, we’d tell them and we’d never hear from them again.”
After the turbines went up, interested buyers stopped showing up altogether.
“We tried to find another realtor,” said Ann, “They’d ask ‘is it near the wind turbines?’ and when they found out it was, they wouldn’t even bother to come out to the house to look at it. One realtor told me it wasn’t worth her marketing dollars to even list it because if it was in the wind farm she knew she couldn’t sell it. I mean have you ever heard of a real estate agent turning down a chance to sell a house?”
Another realtor said they would have to price it under $200,000 to get anyone to even look at it. “At that price we were going to be $50,000 worse than when we started, “ said Ann. “And that didn’t include the 12 years of work we put into the place.”
But the Wirtzes were increasingly anxious to get away from the turbines. While Jason, who works nights, wasn’t having much trouble with the turbine noise, it was keeping Ann and her children from sleeping well at night. They were tired all the time. They were also getting frequent headaches.
And there was trouble with their animals as well. The Wirtz family raise alpaca and have a breeding herd. Ann says the Alpaca became jumpy the first day the turbines went on line. “Normally they are so calm. But the day the towers started up, they seemed to panic. They were on their back legs right away.”
Ann says the herd had always been docile and healthy, with no breeding problems. Since the wind farm started up, their temperament has changed and none of the females have been able to carry a pregnancy to full term. “ They’re nervous all the time now. I can’t prove anything but I do know my animals. And I really felt something was wrong. All the years we’ve had them we’ve never had a problem.”
At night herd shelters in the large metal shed behind the Wirtz home. When the turbines are loud, Ann says the sound echoes inside the shed and the metal vibrates and hums. “The noise in here gets just unbelievable. When the tin starts to vibrate in here, they can’t stand it. I have to find them a better home. This is torture for them.”
The same turbine noise has driven Ann out of her own bedroom “I can’t stand to be in that room anymore. I don’t sleep at all. My sleep has been terrible.” Instead she sleeps on the couch where a fan on their pellet stove helps counter the turbine noise. “My number one complaint is how tired I am all the time,” says Ann, “I never had that before, ever.”
Says Jason, “We don’t have air conditioning, we didn’t want it and we didn’t need it. In the summer we just opened the windows and let cross breezes cool the house. But the first summer with the turbine noise we had to shut the windows and turn on the fan. We couldn’t stand it.”
After one of the children was recently diagnosed with a severe stress-related illness, the Wirtzes decided they’d had enough. They decided the health of their family was more important than keeping their home, and they are abandoning it.
“Now, after all the trouble we’ve had living here” said Ann, “ If a family showed up and wanted to buy the place and they had kids, I don’t think I could sell it to them. Knowing what I know about living here, I just don’t think I could put another family through this.”
They are now looking for a place in a nearby village. “We were born and raised in the country but we’re thinking of moving to Oakfield because they aren’t going to plop a 400 foot turbine in the middle of the village, says Jason. “And I know I’m going to have to drive by this place every day on my way to work. It’s going to make me sick to see it, but I can’t stay here anymore.”
Ann adds, “I say we move near whoever it is that decides on the setbacks because you know they’ll never have a turbine by their place”
Jason and Ann sit at the dining room table and point out the elaborate woodwork they’d stripped and re-finished by hand. Jason holds a picture of the farmhouse from happier times. Earlier that day they’d met with the people at the bank to let them know they were giving up their home.
Jason says, “At least we’re young enough to start over. My mom, she doesn’t have much money and now she has turbines around her house. She said, ‘This house was my retirement,’ Her and my dad put everything into that house. Now I don’t know what she’s going to do.”
Jason says, “ The quality of life we had here is just gone. I grew up here and I loved it here. But I don’t anymore. ”
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Invenergy, Wind farm, Wind farm health effects, wind farm PSC, wind farm complaints, wind farm contracts, wind farm noise, wind farm property values, wind farm shadow flicker
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6/20/10 What are they saying about the wind project proposed for Brown County? AND Wind Siting Council Meeting tomorrow at 1:30
Wind turbine issue sparks resident debate |
Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com June 20 2010
Wind farm development has been a hotly debated issue in Northeastern Wisconsin, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette has received numerous letters to the editor, for and against.
Drawing the most response from readers has been a proposal by Invenergy LLC, a Chicago-based company, to build wind turbines in the Brown County towns of Morrison, Wrightstown, Glenmore and Holland. The 100-turbine wind farm would be the first major commercial operation of its kind in Brown County and the largest in the state. It has signed contracts for about $8,000 a year with numerous property owners permitting 400-foot turbines on their properties.
Many property owners and residents in the southern Brown County communities have spoken out against the project, citing negative health effects and the potential loss in property values.
Just last week, the Brown County Board of Health recommended that no wind turbines be built in the area of the proposed wind farm in southern Brown County, citing a potential threat to the groundwater. The area has a history of well contamination because of the porous bedrock peculiar to that region.
Invenergy is awaiting siting rules from the Public Service Commission, which is taking public comments on the wind turbine issue until July 6.
Uncomfortable with proposed turbines
DENMARK — In the Press-Gazette article, "Wind company tries to woo Brown County" (May 11), Kevin Parzyck, the project manager for the proposed 100-turbine Ledge Wind project in Brown County, is quoted as saying "(T)here is a high level of comfort … it's a benefit to the community." This is a misleading statement.
Get facts straight
The BCCRWE is funded by donations of individual members only. BCCRWE is not connected statewide and does not have external funding sources. BCCRWE is for renewable energy that is sustainable and cost-effective. The Ledge Wind Project is neither. It is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars and higher utility rates.
What else is being said that is less than credible? It certainly makes a person wonder.
Turbines in southern Brown County a 'social injustice'
The area has fractured bedrock that can allow contaminants to leak into ground water. Building this wind farm may result in more fractures and poorer well water quality.
A frustrating aspect for the people of southern Brown County is lack of local control. By law, wind turbines are considered "farming" and go on agricultural land, even though they are no more agricultural than a hydroelectric dam or a nuclear power plant.
The decision to put one up is made solely between the developer and the farmer, who both profit, while the surrounding community suffers negative effects, loss of health and wealth (due to declining property values). To me, this is an incredible social injustice.
WIND SITING COUNCIL MEETING NOTICE
Monday, June 21, 2010, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Flambeau River Conference Room (3rd Floor)
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, WisconsinAudio or video of the meeting will be broadcast from the PSC Website beginning at 1:30.
CLICK HERE to visit the PSC website, click on the button on the left that says "Live Broadcast". Sometimes the meetings don't begin right on time. The broadcasts begin when the meetings do so keep checking back if you don't hear anything at the appointed start time.
Agenda
1) Welcome/Review of today’s agenda
2) Review and adoption of meeting minutes of June 15, 2010
3) Background information on questions raised by Council regarding the draft rules
a. Statutory interpretation
b. Enforcement
c. Commission rulemaking authority
d. Notice requirements
e. Emergency services
f. Vestas manual reference
g. Decommissioning
h. Stray voltage
i. Complaint resolution
j. Commission noise measurement protocol
4) Discuss proposed amendments to straw proposal for Council’s recommendations to
Commission regarding draft rules
5) Next steps/Discussion of next meeting’s time, place and agenda
6) Adjourn
This meeting is open to the public.
If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please contact Deborah
Erwin at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin by telephone at (608) 266-3905 or
via e-mail at deborah.erwin@wisconsin.gov.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm health effects, wind farm complaint, wind farm contract, wind farm easement, wind farm lawsuit, wind farm noise, wind farm setback, wind farm shadow flicker, wind farm wildlife, wind farm wisconsin, wind siting council PSC
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