Home in a Wisconsin wind project. Fond du Lac County 2009

Construction of Wisconsin's largest wind farm put on hold as WEPCO struggles to find willing landowners: use of eminent domain may be only option.

A resident in Columbia county has contacted Better Plan to say We Energies representatives are scrambling to find enough landowners willing to sign the easements needed to begin construction on the Glacier Hills wind project which is set to occupy the Columbia County Towns of Randolph and Scott. The 90 turbine project which was recently approved by the Public Service Commission, would be the largest in the state.

 We Energies representatives are reportedly offering residents a signing bonus of $5000 for completion of contract paperwork by February 28th. The contracts offer landowners a yearly payment of $2,000 with a 2% annual increase.  Residents report these numbers can vary widely depending on the importance of a particular easement to the project.

The easements would give We Energies permission to create turbine noise that will exceed the limits set for homes by the PSC. The easements would also allow such things as trenching for laying cables and transmission lines needed to connect the turbines along with other rights We Energies may need. The duration of a contract of this sort is usually a minimum of 40 years and runs with the land.
 
Some residents who have refused to sign contracts say they are still being hounded by We Energies representatives who won’t take no for an answer.
 
“They’ve tried to make contact with me three times already in the last several days” says Kristine Novak, whose home would be inside of the project. “They are going house to house.”
 
We Energies representatives may not find a lot of welcoming faces in a sharply divded community still reeling from the PSC’s decision to approve the project.
 
 “I guess the best way to describe the feeling in the area is shock,” said the resident who wished to remain anonymous. “Hard feelings that developed earlier have now become worse.”
 
Those hard feelings may well extend to the We Energies Representatives who are now desperate to make deals. Says the resident, “Landowners are telling them to ‘get the hell off my property.”
 
He believes the tension in the community is so high that should We Energies decide to force the project through by use of eminent domain the consequences would be serious.  “People around here will only take so much,” he said.

Better Plan invites residents affected by the Glacier Hills wind project to contact us with their stories.

We hope reporters in our state will follow up on this news-tip and find out more.

SECOND FEATURE:

Fond du Lac County, Blue Sky/Green Field wind project. February 2010

BADGERS HELPING BADGERS GET IT RIGHT:

There is finally some good news for Wisconsin wind farm residents having trouble with turbine noise and shadow-flicker.

A new organization called Healthy Wind, Wisconsin (HWW) will advocate on behalf of those who feel their complaints are not being taken seriously by the wind company.

If you are a resident experiencing turbine-related problems in one of Wisconsin's industrial wind projects CLICK HERE to visit the Healthy Wind, Wisconsin website

From the HWW website:

"Healthy Wind, Wisconsin (HWW) is an all-volunteer independent Wisconsin-based community group working to ensure that the placement of large wind turbines is protective of family's health and safety. We have multiple years of experience in researching information in regard to wind turbine siting. Our members have participated in drafting large wind turbine ordinances that have been adopted by Town Boards. We have testified at local and state public hearings concerning this issue, and have offered our assistance to other citizen groups outside of Wisconsin.

We are committed to:

• Assisting residents living in wind facilities with complaint resolution.

• Compiling a data base of all complaints to channel toward the appropriate local, county and state agencies.

• Advocate for responsible siting to minimize the adverse impacts of noise, shadow flicker, and sleep disturbance.

• Put people into the renewable energy equation by providing education and awareness on the issues.

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.

SECOND FEATURE:

Judge dismisses Trempealeau County wind lawsuit

SOURCE: Winona Daily News

By Dustin Kass | dustin.kass@lee.net | Posted: Friday, February 19, 2010

A Wisconsin judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Trempealeau County's wind ordinance, which critics have called one of the strictest in the country.

Judge John Damon dismissed the claims presented by Ron and Mary Winn of Galesville, Wis., when he granted summary judgment in favor of the county, according to court documents filed earlier this month. The Winns were challenging a county zoning ordinance that prevented the erection of wind turbines on land they were going to rent out to a wind development company. But a new state initiative made the case moot, attorneys say.

Mary Winn declined to comment for this story, and the Winns' attorney, Taavi McMahon, did not return a call for comment.

Wind development in Trempealeau County has been a hot-button issue since 2006, when an investment group called AgWind Energy Partners approached the county board with a request to look into three potential sites for a wind farm.

County board members enacted three moratoriums on wind development in response, before passing the restrictive ordinance in December 2007. It requires turbines more than 150 feet high to be at least one mile from the nearest homes and half a mile from neighboring property lines. Most commercial wind towers are about 300 feet. Additional required setbacks in the ordinance keep turbines away from roads, railroads and wildlife refuges.

The ordinance directly affected the Winns. AgWind had proposed renting 160 acres the Winns owned near Ettrick, Wis., for its proposed wind farm.

The Winns filed suit in June 2009, alleging the ordinance prevents commercial wind development anywhere in the county and doesn't comply with state laws and policies.

Trempealeau County denied those allegations and asserted its authority to create the wind ordinance.

Ultimately, Damon's ruling did not weigh in on the legality of the ordinance, but decided the Winns' claims were moot.

That action was based on a bill passed by Wisconsin legislators last fall calling for state regulators to create uniform site regulations for wind farms throughout the state, said attorney Mark Skolos, who represented Trempealeau County. Those regulations, when complete, will trump all local ordinances.

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: At present there are no guidelines for siting industrial scale wind projects in the state of Wisconsin. A Town or County can still protect itself by adopting ordinances and moratoria. CLICK HERE to read why your Town needs and ordinance and how to go about getting it on the books.

THIRD FEATURE:

Important tips for landowners to know

SOURCE: KQHA News

By Jarod Wells
Monday, February 22, 2010 at 5:28 p.m.

PITTSFIELD, ILL. -- Illinois currently has 800 wind turbines in the state. And over the next five to ten years, the state could see five times more wind power as more turbines are built.

That's why the Illinois Farm Bureau has been holding talks across the state to inform land owners of their rights when entering a lease with a wind energy company.

One of those presentations was held in Pike County Monday, February 22nd.

An attorney with the Illinois Farm Bureau says one of the things he points out to land owners, is that wind turbine leases are usually long term, sometimes up to 90 years.

"We always encourage people to understand how long the contract is going to last. Talk about it with their family, attorney, accountant, anyone involved in their farming operations we want them to talk to because this is going to impact not just them but their grand kids as well," said Illinois Farm Bureau Attorney Ryan Gammelgard.

"Another thing we always recommend they look at is what rights are they going to have under the contract. Are they still going to be able to do their normal day to day farming operations, or is their farming operation going to be subordinate to the wind energy company," said Gammelgard.

The attorney with the Illinois Farm Bureau says many times land owners just focus on how much they'll get paid to put a turbine on their property.

But they don't realize their farming operations will be affected.

For example you may not be able to use aerial sprayer on your farmland once a turbine is installed.

KHQA was also told lease agreements are very complex and can be up to 40 pages long.

So it's not something you should just sign.



Click here for source

Note from the BPWI Research Nerd: This video shows abandoned turbines in South Point on the island of Hawaii that have been left to spin until they break.

They are not connected to anything, not generating any electricity and there is no operating system that can stop them. 

This why a Town ordinance or Joint Development Agreement must include specific decommissioning plans and funds for removal of turbines that are binding after the original wind developer is gone.

During a recent visit to the We Energies Blue Sky/Green Field wind project near the Town of Johnsburg in Fond du Lac County, at least seven turbines appeared to be leaking oil.

Residents pointed out the leaks and stated the problem seems to be increasing throughout the project.

Our camera wasn't capable of long range shots of turbines in the field, but oil leaking from a turbine sited nearer to the road is visible in this video.

The photos in the second video were sent to us by residents of the Cedar Ridge wind project near the Town of Empire in Fond du Lac County.