Entries in Wisconsin wind power (20)
5/9/10 Different State, Same Wind Clowns
Note from the BPWI Research Nerd: Click on the image above to hear what wind turbines sound like, how the quality of the sound changes depending on where you stand, and why so many in our state are having trouble living with them. Where wind developers venture, a torn up community is sure to follow. Though the following letter is from a resident of rural New York State, it could have come from any of the many communities in Wisconsin where wind developers looking to control land and make money do not hesitate to practice the art of turning neighbor against neighbor.
WIND COMPANY HAS NOT BEEN FORTHRIGHT WITH THE COMMUNITY
SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times, www.watertowndailytimes.com
May 9 2010
Several years ago, our small community was targeted by representatives of the wind company, Iberdrola Renewables, cleverly disguised as environmentalists. They quietly scoped out our farmers and large landowners, promising them large incomes, lower taxes and community gain. For a long time they appeared to have kept their plans under wraps; this prevented the rest of the community from knowing what was in the works during the early stages. Now that this intrigue has unfolded, our once close-knit community has been left in ruins before the approval of even one wind turbine has taken place.
The company now apparently intends to open an office in Hammond, creating the façade of an honorable business environment. Even this simple event seems rife with rumors, denials and accusations. Iberdrola Renewables will not respond to questions by the media, even regarding opening an office, unless in the form of an e-mail. Employees of Iberdrola have refused to have an open forum with our citizens. They have attended our Wind Advisory Committee meetings but would not answer questions unless presented in writing prior to the meeting. I do not hold these representatives personally responsible, since they are but the hired hands of the foreign wind company, doing their job as directed. It would appear that the direction is to be vague, avoid direct answers and spread information that ignores much of the real science behind the industry. Destroying relationships in our town is merely collateral damage.
I say to Iberdrola, you are not guests in our community. You did not approach our townspeople with an open meeting to present your agenda, fielding questions and inviting the community to participate in any plans. I believe you are here to make money at the expense of the people you purport to be helping. You have shown yourselves to be evasive and secretive. Doing business with any other company that behaves in this manner would be unacceptable even to the most gullible consumer, but you have insinuated yourselves with promises of big money and environmental commitment. Even the best among us have been taken in. I urge our citizens to see you as you truly are, and encourage you to go elsewhere, leaving us to clean up the wreckage your well-planned assault has left behind.
Brooke Stark
Hammond
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm, Wind farm health effects, Wisconsin wind power, wind developer, wind energy, wind farm contracts, wind farm noise, wind farm shadow flicker, wind power
|
Comments Off
5/8/10 TRIPLE FEATURE: Guess what? You're moving. And you're one of the lucky ones: Wisconsin homes to be bought out by wind developer AND The usual story about yet another 'unusual' turbine blade fail AND Cause of 'unusual' wind turbine collapse still unknown many months later, collapse zone established
A proposal for We Energies to buy two homes in the vicinity of a soon-to-be-built wind farm is the only thing standing in the way of building the roads that, a year from now, will lead to a vast collection of wind energy turbines in northeast Columbia County.
At Thursday's meeting of the Columbia County Board's highway committee, officials of the county and We Energies signed an agreement that will require the utility to pay for the repair of any county roads that might be damaged during the construction.
We Energies plans to build, on land leased from farmers in the towns of Scott and Randolph, up to 90 wind turbines, capable of generating up to 207 megawatts of electric power. The development, called Glacier Hills Energy Park, could become the largest wind energy operation in Wisconsin.
Mike Strader of We Energies said Thursday that the company hopes to soon start building the gravel roads to the turbine sites, to offer access for maintenance.
But before that can happen, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has to sign off on a plan for We Energies to buy two homes located near the proposed sites of numerous turbines.
Strader said the purchase would not be an eminent domain taking. Rather, it's intended to fulfill one of the conditions that the PSC set forth when it voted in January to grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity for Glacier Hills.
According to documents filed with the PSC, the commission required We Energies to "reduce the individual hardships" for two specific households whose homes are located close to an especially large number of proposed turbine locations. One option for doing that - and, according to the documents, the option preferred by We Energies and both households - is for the utility to buy the homes.
PSC Engineer Scot Cullen said Thursday that the commission is expected to decide on the matter soon. Commission approval is needed before either sale can be closed, he said.
From Columbia County's perspective, however, the agreement regarding the roads clears the way for the work to begin.
Highway Commissioner Kurt Dey said Corporation Counsel Joseph Ruf had looked over the agreement, which basically calls for We Energies to make repairs, or pay for repairs, whenever the utility's construction activity results in damage to a county road.
"I think we're ready to go," he told the committee.
When the highway committee met April 1, Andrew Hesselbach of We Energies said the weight of the construction equipment, and not the turbines themselves, is most likely to cause damage. The turbine and tower components, though heavy, are hauled on several axles, he said.
The turbines, which could be as high as 400 feet from the ground to the tip of the highest blade, aren't scheduled to be built until the spring and summer of 2011.
Walter "Doc" Musekamp of We Energies said Thursday that, in addition to the roads that will lead to the turbines, one of the first things to be built will be the wind farm's operations building on Columbia County Highway H, south of Highway 33.
Turbine Blade Damage 'Unusual'
SOURCE: Daily Chronicle, www.daily-chronicle.com
May 7, 2010
By Dana Herra
SHABBONA TOWNSHIP – Officials at NextEra Energy Resources aren’t sure what caused one of the three blades on a wind turbine south of the village of Shabbona to fail Friday morning. The 131-foot-long blade hung from the top of the turbine Friday, apparently bent at the base and split along its length.
A 131-foot-long turbine blade was damaged in the wind farm south of Shabbona.
That type of failure is unusual, NextEra spokesman Steve Stengel said.
“Our inspection at this point has just been visual, so at this point we don’t know what caused that,” Stengel said Friday afternoon. “Based on just visual inspection, it’s very unusual to have a blade fail and look like that.”
Stengel said the blade failed about 7:30 a.m. Friday. No one was injured and nothing besides the blade was damaged, he said. The turbine has been shut down.
The access road leading from Houghtby Road to that section of the 145-tower commercial wind farm was blocked off with orange cones and traffic barricades Friday. Stengel said NextEra is in the process of getting a replacement blade and arranging for a crane to repair the turbine so it can go back online after the cause of the failure has been determined.
Several vehicles pulled to the side of Houghtby Road while their occupants looked at the broken turbine Friday. One of those looking was Mel Hass, a member of a citizens group that filed a lawsuit last year opposing the wind farm.
Hass said he came to look at the turbine after getting a call that it had failed, and he had wondered if it was somehow damaged in a Thursday night thunderstorm.
THIRD FEATURE
Windmill Down; Fences Up
SOURCE: MADISON COUNTY COURIER
May 8, 2010
Safety Measures Implemented to Keep Public out of ‘Collapse Zone’
By Martha E. Conway
(Fenner) Enel Energy officials announced in March that heightened safety measures would be taken in light of the collapse of a windmill in the Fenner Wind Farm on Buyea Road Dec. 27.
“When the incident occurred, we fenced it off and set up security,” said Hank Sennott, director of corporate affairs and communications for Enel North America, Inc., out of Andover, Mass.
Now Enel is fencing off every turbine, Sennott said. He said with all the snow that stuck around this winter, it was difficult for anyone to get to the turbines, but with it gone, the company is erecting snow fencing to demarcate the “safety zone.”
“We are exercising an abundance of caution,” Sennott said. “The public has gotten use to having pretty liberal access to these turbines. We also needed to stake out the space before farmers begin working their fields.”
One of the things that made leasing so attractive to farmers was that they could work the land virtually up to the base of the windmill towers. Now Sennott says compensatory agreements will be made for the loss of use of the cropland unavailable inside the 300-foot radius – about the height of each windmill – staked out around each turbine.
The decision was made after concrete core samples from the foundations preliminarily showed inconsistent aging and degradation.
“Some of the samples looked like they were poured yesterday,” Sennott said. “Others… Didn’t.”
According to Sennott the samples of five or six foundations led to the decision to test all 19 in the project. He said the company is in the home stretch of collecting data and a report is expected soon.
Surveyors also are working the site to make sure towers are not moving, Sennott said.
“The last thing we want to do is have something happen,” Sennott said, adding that also is the motivation behind not hurrying to restart the turbines.
Sennott said he doesn’t know how much revenue is being lost each day the turbines don’t turn; he said he hopes the company can pull back the fences quickly and Enel’s expectation is that the turbines will be up and running by the fall.
“I don’t know of any turbine foundation failures, but we were the first, so there is nothing to go back and research,” Sennott said. “This project was the larges built east of the Mississippi when we constructed it 10 years ago. There’s no history for us to look at.”
Sennott said how much location may play into the problem is still a big unknown.
“That’s why we’re being overly cautious,” Sennott said. “Maybe we’ll look back and think it was excessive, but we would rather go overboard on the side of safety. We’ve never had any incidents, and we’ve never had anything like this ever happen.”
The top windmill engineering firm in the world is working on the investigation and report, Sennott said, and subcontractors who helped construct the project also are assisting.
“It’s been a real collective effort to try and sort this out,” Sennott said. “Everyone’s stepped up to the plate.”
Sennott said the community pride in the wind farm has been unparalleled.
“We can’t go anywhere without people tapping us on the shoulder, asking us when they are going to be started again,” Sennott said. “It shows that people are interested and care. There is real community pride in this project. Everybody’s been great. You don’t know how it feels to visit the Fenner website and see our turbines there. That really says it all.”
About the Fenner Wind Farm
The Fenner Windpower Project consists of 20 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts for a total installed capacity of 30 megawatts. Each wind turbine generator consists of a concrete foundation, a 213-foot-tall tubular steel tower, a 231-foot diameter, three-bladed rotor connected to a gearbox and generator, and an electrical control center to automatically operate the system.
The towers are 13.5 feet in diameter at the base and 8.5 feet at the top. The total height of each tower with blade extended is 328 feet; each blade is 113 feet long.
Each turbine weighs 380,000 pounds; the concrete foundation for each tower weighs more than 610,000 pounds. Access to the top of the tower is made by use of a vertical ladder located inside each tower.
The project is located in the town of Fenner, about 20 miles east of Syracuse in Madison County. The project encompasses about 2,000 acres of leased land running from the intersection of Mile Strip and Bellinger Roads in the North to the intersection of Buyea and East Roads in the south.
Two additional wind turbines and the electrical substation are located south of the intersection of Peterboro and Rouses roads, east of the main project site. Electricity produced by the windmills is transmitted to the National Grid power grid.
Construction began in June 2001 and was completed in November of that year.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm, Wind farm health effects, Wisconsin wind farm, Wisconsin wind power, turbine blade fail, wind farm accidents, wind farm noise, wind farm shadow flicker, wind power, wind turbine, wisconsin wind developer, wisconsin wind energy
|
Comments Off
4/6/10 Adverse Health Effects? The wind industry says there are none.
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: For those who had trouble accessing the video of the April 1st Wind Siting Council Meeting, the settings have been changed so they are all now viewable to the public. CLICK HERE for the links.
CLICK HERE for location, time and dates of WSC meetings. These meetings are open to the public. Better Plan, Wisconsin encourages you to attend.
THIRD Wind Siting Council Meeting Notice
Wednesday, April 7, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Amnicon Falls Conference Room (1st Floor) Public Service Commission Building 610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
This meeting is open to the public
To address the growing number of complaints and health concerns about adverse health effects from wind farm noise and shadow flicker, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)and the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), hired medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals to review recent literature on the issue. The resulting report, "Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects" was released in December 2009. Their conclusion?
Other equally qualified medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals have reviewed the same literature and have come to the opposite conclusion.
CLICK HERE to visit the Adverse Health Effects page at The Society for Wind Vigilence Website
CLICK HERE to read their review of the AWEA/CanWEA report.
Their advisory panel includes:
Robert Y. McMurtry, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C), F.A.C.S.
Michael A. Nissenbaum, M.D.
Roy D. Jeffery M.D.,FCFP (Can)
Christopher Hanning, BSc, MB, BS, MRCS, LRCP, FRCA, MD
Carmen Krogh, BScPharm, Secretariat
Richard R. James, INCE
John Harrison, PhD
David L. White, EET, CMBB
ANOTHER NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: If you are a Wisconsin resident currently having problems with wind turbine noise or shadow flicker, CLICK HERE to Contact Healthy Wind, Wisconsin
"HWW - Healthy Wind, Wisconsin’s mission is to keep active track of wind-related health issues affecting Wisconsin families. We are committed to assisting residents of Wisconsin who have been impacted by poorly sited wind turbines by processing resident’s complaints and monitoring the progress toward complaint resolution."
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Invenergy, WPPI, We Energy, Wisconsin wind farm, Wisconsin wind power, Wisconsin wind siting council, health effects wind farm, health effects wind turbine, wind farm noise, wind shadow flicker, wind turbine noise, wisconsin wind ordinance
|
Comments Off
4/1/10 TRIPLE FEATURE: Brown County Health department says wind turbine health effects need looking into AND Kewanee County Town of Carlton passes large wind moritorium No Foolin'! PSC will webcast AUDIO of today's 1:30 PM WSC Meeting!
PANEL ASKS FOR WIND TURBINE HEALTH STUDY
Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
April 1, 2010
By Tony Walter,
The Brown County Health Department will look into the impact of wind turbines on human health.
Supervisor Patrick Evans, chairman of the Human Services committee, said he thinks the turbines proposed for southern Brown County pose a potential health danger and wants a study conducted.
“I feel there’s a health risk right now,” said Evans, who said he has done wind turbine consulting in Brazil and has health data compiled in European countries where the turbines have been built. “The only way that wind farms in southern Brown County can be stopped is through the health department.”
Chicago-based Invenergy LLC has proposed building 100 wind turbines in the area, with 54 of them in the town of Morrison. Opponents argue that the turbines would deflate land values and create health problems through noise and interference with the groundwater.
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has authority to approve the turbines but hasn’t yet acted on the company’s request.
Evans said the health department study would be presented to the Board of Health, the Human Services committee and the County Board.
Health Department Director Judy Friederichs said she was planning to investigate the health danger anyway.
“We decided to be proactive after reading many of the comments,” Friederichs said. “But we really haven’t had a speaker on this at any of the state meetings. So we’re just starting to look into it.”
Carlton Wind moratorium approved: Residents seek to protect property rights
SOURCE Kewaunee County News, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
By Kurt Rentmeester,
March 31 2010
The Carlton Town Board approved a one-year moratorium on commercial wind turbines Monday, after more than 50 residents came to a public hearing to oppose the idea.
The board unanimously approved the measure on a 3-0 vote after Town Chairman Dave Hardtke said he received six or seven phone calls from residents who were contacted by the Ohio-based Element Energy to lease their property for wind generation.
Element Energy seeks to lease more than 18,000 acres for 111 commercial turbines as part of a wind farm between Kewaunee and Two Rivers. Wind turbines would be built on properties in the towns of West Kewaunee, Two Creeks, Mishicot and Two Rivers.
Property owners elsewhere have lost rights after signing lease agreements to site wind turbines on their land, according to Jeff Roberts, a town of Mishicot resident. Turbines have had an impact on cell phone and TV reception.
Carlton residents could have concerns if people in neighboring towns agree to the Element Energy proposal, Carlton Town Supervisor Steve Tadisch said. A state wind energy ordinance proposal may supersede state and county setback ordinances, he said.
Residents who sign leases may not realize they could lose their rights as property owners, said Jeff Roberts, a town of Mishicot resident. They also could lose their cell phone and TV reception, as well as have to live with the noise of turbines.
Gary Holly, a town of Carlton resident, learned Fond du Lac County residents lost some of their rights after talking to them last week.
He described one property owner who signed a waiver agreement to permit a wind turbine near his home as someone who “looked down. He was a beaten man.”
Lynn Holly, a business operator from the Tisch Mills area, said she learned about the issue two weeks ago. Property owners who sign contracts cannot discuss the issue with anyone, she said.
Until now, the state has had to go through local town zoning ordinances to site wind turbines. But the Wisconsin Legislature could give power companies the right to set those standards, according to Jerome Hlinak, a town of Mishicot resident. He is a member of Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposed to Wind Turbine Sites (WIND COWS).
Town of Carlton residents need time to understand all the concerns associated with wind turbines, said Rick Phillips, a town resident.
While the Wisconsin Legislature has mandated exploration of renewable energy, he referred to the state’s efforts as a “knee-jerk reaction” that needs to be thought out.
Green energy grants that power companies are eligible for can be pulled, Hardtke said. Property owners then can lose money, too.
When people sign lease agreements for wind power, Becky Paplham said they should consider the long-term impact on residents with young families.
A state initiative on wind energy could be established to override any town or county ordinances. While Manitowoc County has a 1,000-foot zoning setback, the state could eliminate that.
Hlinak wants people to be concerned about changes in state law that could eliminate county, town and individual property rights.
“I feel we’re losing local control in our township with the state Public Service Commission and the Legislature stepping in,” Hardtke said. “They don’t care how it affects us here.”
SECOND FEATURE:
Sad because you can't make it to Public Service Commssion in Madison to attend the Wind Siting Council meetings as they to put together guidelines to site industrial scale wind turbines in our state?
Be Happy! The PSC is webcasting the AUDIO proceedings live from the Flambeau River Room. The meeting begins at 1:30 PM and is open to the public. We'd much prefer video but we'll take the audio.
Topic of the day:-Developing guiding principles- Developer/owner responsibility
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
Flambeau River Room
CLICK HERE to download a copy of the agenda
DO YOUR HOMEWORK! CLICK HERE to find out who is on the siting council
Wind Siting Council Meeting Live Broadcast
April 1, 2010 Beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Click Here to receive the LIVE AUDIO broadcast of the Wind Siting Council Meeting
The meeting begins at 1:30 but you may want to set up your connection earlier to make sure it's ready.
If the link doesn't work, go directly to the PSC homepage by CLICKING HERE and then clicking on the "PSC Live Broadcasts button" on the left.
|
FROM THE PSC WEBSITE about live broadcasts : PSC Live offers real-time broadcasts of the Commission's open meetings and public hearings. Commission meetings and public hearings held in the Amnicon Falls room include audio and video whereas events held in the third floor Flambeau River conference room will be audio only. |
| Note: There will be no broadcast if the event is not in session. We suggest that you tune in a few minutes before the session begins and close your media player when the session ends. |
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm health effects, Wisconsin wind power, Wisconsin wind siting council, psc wind siting council, wind farm noise, wind farm shadow flicker, wisconsin wind energy
|
Comments Off
3/31/10 No Foolin'! Second Wind Siting Council Meeting Tomorrow, April 1st, and "What's on the WSC Docket?"
The next Wind Siting Council meeting is Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 1:30 pm
-Developing guiding principles- Developer/owner responsibility
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
CLICK HERE to download a copy of the agenda
CLICK HERE to find out who is on the siting council
|
WHAT'S ON THE WIND SITING COUNCIL (WSC) DOCKET TODAY? Visit the docket by CLICKING HERE. The docket number to enter is 1-AC-231 Public comment from Brown County resident regarding setbacks being measured from property lines, March 30, 2010 Proper siting of industrial wind turbines is perhaps the most crucial and overlooked aspect of the wind power debate. The turbines proposed for the Ledge Wind project and other state projects are industrial machines - they have no business being placed near people's homes, workplaces, schools, or farms. It is also imperative that setbacks are measured from property lines, not simply from the center of buildings. People live not just in their homes, but also on their lands. A person's plans for their property should not be impeded because an industrial turbine is placed too close to their lotline. To limit the health consequences and maximize safety, industrial wind turbines should be sited, at a BARE minimum, no closer than 1 km from property lines. Even better would be 2 km. To do any less is reprehensible and irresponsible, and risks the health and safety of Wisconsin residents. I affirm that these comments are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. Public comment from Brown County resident regarding WSC record keeping and wildlife concerns: March 31, 2010 I attended the first meeting of the Wind Siting Council and was concerned that no secretary of the proceedings had bee[n] selected. In a recent call to Deborah Erwin, I was happy to hear that minutes of the meeting would be taken and put on the PSC website. Also, efforts are being made to broadcast the meetings through the internet again on the PSC website. Thank you Deborah for arranging full coverage of the panel's discussions. I affirm that these comments are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. |
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm health effects, Wisconsin wind power, wind farm setbacks, wind farm wildlife impacts, wind siting council, wisconsin psc wind
|
Comments Off