Better Plan, Wisconsin

Q is for Question:

What do I have to do to get

my TV reception back?

Since the turbines went on line in Fond du Lac county, along with complaints about noise and shadow flicker, there have also been complaints about disrupted TV reception.

According to a contract offered to residents who live inside of the 86 turbine wind farm, the wind developer will work to restore your TV reception if you will sign this agreement to these terms: (and these are not all the terms of the contract.)

You will allow the wind developer to send someone to your house and see if he can fix the problem.

-If he can't fix it, the developer will pay you for basic cable or satellite TV as long as you agree to these conditions:

You will not claim the right to payment from the developer for your TV reception problems.

You will not say bad things about the developer or the wind farm to any third party.

You will let a representative of the developer into your home at any time to monitor your television reception  as long as they give you 24 hour notice. You will not unreasonably withhold or delay your consent for them to enter.

You agree to give the developer your social security number so they can file a W-9 form with the IRS which obligates you to pay taxes on the money the developer has paid toward your cable or satellite bill.

You agree that the developer and the wind farm are not the cause of your reception problem.

You agree to never tell anyone about what is in this contract.

 Read the entire contract by clicking here

NOTE FROM THE BPRC RESEARCH NERD: Unless your township has a wind ordinance which addresses such issues, residents in your community will face having to sign contracts like this one just to get their TV reception back.

Read a step by step guide to creating a large wind ordinances by clicking here.

Got a wind developer contract you'd like us to take a look at? Click here to contact us!

 

P is for Pressure, Permits,

Powerlines and the PSC.

These are excerpts from a transcribed audio recording of the March 8, 2007, Town of Magnolia Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in Rock County, Wisconsin. The topic is a wind developer's application to the township for a permit to erect a tower to measure wind speeds

Instead of speaking to the commissioners directly, the wind developer has decided to have a lawyer do the talking for them. The map above shows the developer's target area.

The voices in this transcript have been identified to the best of our ability. If we've made any errors, please contact us and we will correct them.

Attorney David Moore: I’m Dave Moore. I’m an attorney from Janesville and EcoEnergy LLC has asked me to both take a look at this and kind of assist them in telling you folks what this application is about and where we’re coming from.

I hope to bring some clarity to, uh, what we’re asking for here.

I wasn’t present at the last meeting of course, and I know many of you were, and as you pointed out Mr. Chairman, I know there was a lot of discussion about wind farms and wind generated energy at that time, which is understandable, but from our perspective and for what we have applied for here, uh, that’s—that’s not the issue we intended to address.

The sole issue we’re going to talk about here, and are prepared to talk about—and Wes Slaymaker is an engineer and is prepared to show what ever you want to know about that particular structure. We are talking about a temporary use, uh, tower, and that tower, because it is temporary, it comes under a particular section of your ordinance which is referenced in the agenda for the meeting

The, - my clients and I understand that, they approached the town board back in December, and I didn’t realize this until today, but they have already installed, with the town boards consent, anchors for this particular temporary tower in the area where the desire is to erect it.

[Note: Mr. Moore is mistaken here, the town board did not give their consent to install the tower anchors.]

One of the things I noticed about your ordinance and this is typical of ordinances in this county is that temporary use is limited to twelve months, and I recognize that, and I recognize that the application makes reference to a 36 month period, so that if you grant a temporary use, it can only be for the twelve months. And my clients understand that and are prepared to accept that.

I also want to acknowledge that even though we are talking about a tower, ultimately everyone knows this is something to do with wind energy.

But I want to explain what would happen in our minds if you grant this particular request for this temporary tower. And that would be one of three things. Because the purpose of this tower is to determine what winds blow, uh, in the area the tower is located, it’s a meteorological device put up to test the winds.

So if this tower goes up, at the end of 12 months the client is going to do one of three things:

Either they’re going to determine there is an adequate or stable—Wes can talk it in engineers terms but—is there going to be adequate wind for this to be a viable uh, wind project.

Or it’s conceivable my client would ask for additional time, that is, an extension for that temporary permit so that they can continue to do studies,

-or they could conclude this tower—after they’ve done their tests, that they would want to proceed in seeking a conditional use permit, or multiple conditional use permits to put up, uh, multiple wind energy systems.

That’s the truth. There’s no secret about it. That’s what this is all about.

What I want to bring into play, just so that everyone is aware of, that there’s a statute that governs wind energy in the state of Wisconsin. It’s section 66.0401.

And what that statute does—I don’t know any other way to say it—that it restricts a town’s ability – or anyone in this town’s ability- to prevent wind constructions.

It doesn’t mean that they can go up without any say by the town, but it restricts the town’s ability to challenge it, and uh, the statute says no county, city, town or village can place a restriction on a wind energy system unless the restriction satisfies one of the following conditions:

A) It serves to preserve protect the public health and safety
B) It does not significantly increase the cost of the system or decrease its efficiency
C) Allows for an alternative system of comparable cost and efficiency.

So when we come in asking to do something like that, we will be invoking that statute.

Quite frankly the statute in Wisconsin, and this law has been around for quite a long time, the state of Wisconsin encourages these things.

So it is, and frankly it trumps the town’s ordinances in many respects.

However, that is not the issue before you.

Because from this company's perspective, they can approach this in a couple of different ways and I think the way they have chosen to do this is the best way to do it.

To take a preliminary step, lets look at the tower, and, uh, look at putting up one of these temporary towers, and take a look at the wind, and decide what we are going to do next. And that is appropriately before you as a temporary -- as a temporary use.

The other way to approach this, for an energy company, is to come in and say, well, we’ll file a CUP for the whole shooting match, for the testing all the way up to putting up an energy turbine.

But then we get into statute and application and these issues of public safety and public health that go with that, and all the considerations that the state law provides.

That’s a choice that the tower company has in how they approach this.

And you also have some choice of as to how you want us to approach this, and we’re assuming that you want to talk about this tower.

Uh, If it is your desire, ultimately, to say, no, we want to know everything about the wind technology and what these things look like and how they run and that sort of thing, we can come back to you with that. We would want to amend the application, it would be a much more comprehensive thing than what we’ve done here, which is to file a one page request for a temporary tower.

So that is your choice, how you want us to proceed, and I know that this company wants to work with the town or whatever they do, and we think this is the best most unintrusive way to do that.

We want to come in, put up this tower, find out how the wind works here. And then a decision will be made as to what to do next.

So that’s why we’re approaching this the way we are.

Now, for what we’re proposing to do, I know that Wes can describe what this tower looks like, and I don’t know the extent to which you discussed this at the last meeting, but Wes is the person who can tell you what it’s going to look like, how tall it is, how it’s anchored, how it works. So I’m going to defer to him unless you have any questions for me.

If not… Wes?

[Mr. Slaymaker gives some basic information about the met tower and then the discussion turns to wind turbines]

Commissioner#1: What is the optimum wind for the production—is it 14 miles an hour or is it--

Slaymaker: Well I, I’m just giving you a broad overlook. It’s just all economics. Electricity in the area--

Commissioner #1: What wind does it take to turn them?

Slaymaker: Oh. Wind turbines start turning at 10 or 12 miles an hour. So it’s hard to compare the average speed of the wind to how they turn.

[Somebody asks about the size of the turbines]

Slaymaker: Oh the size. That depends on who's selling what, what you can get at a reasonable price, that kind of thing. The sizes these days are all within a small band, just like General Electric is making 2000 a year of this size turbine. You know, that’s all they make. So that’s what you take.

Commissioner#2: What’s the current— one and half megawatts?

Slaymaker: Yeah. Right. The GE machines are one and a half megawatt machines.

Commissioner#2: And then the total size of the windmill itself? 400 feet?

Slaymaker: Little under. Yeah. To the tip of the blade. We didn’t want to get too much into talking about wind turbines.

Commissioner #2: From your view of— obviously your company or you or some expert must think there is potential here or they wouldn’t be wasting their time hiring lawyers-

Slaymaker: Right.

Commissioner #2: And putting up a wind tower. What is it that--

Slaymaker: Two items. Power line— there’s a 138,000 volt line across the southern part of the state. It has the potential to carry, uh, energy, and second item is, you know, elevation. You got these maps here and they indicate it’s above 1000 feet. The elevation of the area surrounding is 150 feet lower. Agricultural ground— those are probably a couple of items--

Commissioner#2: Where is the power line that you looked into?

Slaymaker: Um, from here it’s about four miles south— its--what’s the cross---?

[Developer #2] Dorner road. South of Dorner road. Off of 213.

Commissioner#2: Do you have a number of wind turbines that seems to fit the budget of your company and the potential of this area?

Slaymaker: I couldn’t say exactly what that would be. The power line obviously makes a big determination on that. Um, so it’s hard to guess on the number of turbines, etcetera.

I’ll just— uh, Wisconsin just passed a 10% renewable requirement for all utilities, so Wisconsin is a state, and all the utilities within it are to acquire quite a number of megawatts of wind energy to meet the state mandates. And, you know, the federal mandate may [unintelligible]

[Further discussion about met towers]

Commissioner #3: So if you were to get your tower and you get enough wind— where do you want to put up all these other turbines, within a certain— five miles from this tower or—a hundred miles or what do you want to do?

Slaymaker: Yeah, well, it’s, you know, I guess if you’re familiar with the area you’ll be familiar with the elevated terrain is, and we talked about the power line, so, you know, you’d say, well here’s the power line and here’s the elevated terrain, we’d like to just set some wind turbines within a reasonable distance on the elevated terrain. That’s the big picture idea.

Commissioner #3: Would you like to put them all in Magnolia?

Slaymaker: Hmm?

Commissioner #3: Would you like to put all the turbines in Magnolia or--

Slaymaker: Ah—not necessarily, I mean, again it’s just the elevated feature and the power line. This isn’t the only project we’re looking toward working on in the state. And in each case, you know, it can kind of show, here’s the elevated feature, here’s the power line, site some turbines---connect them here--- it’s a long, lengthy process to site wind turbines and it would be many years before we would be doing anything like that in this location.

Commissioner #2: Where are your other projects?

Slaymaker: The one that’s probably closest to going for permitting is in Calumet County, Wisconsin, [unintelligible] and we started that one back in 2005, and we have two wind measurement towers, we’re hoping to maybe apply for permits maybe later this year. It’s kind of time frame--

Commissioner #3: Now Calumet county, is that on the east side of Lake Winnebago?

Slaymaker: Yes. Apparently there are some very large permitted projects— permitted through the public service commission—just south of there in Fond du Lac county.

Commissioner#2: Is that the Horicon Project?

Slaymaker: One of those is, yes. That one was permitted first but just a couple of weeks ago another project was permitted that WE energies is currently the owner of.

Commissoner# 2: And that’s a project you’re working on?

Slaymaker: No. No. Again, That’s Wisconsin Energies project. I was mentioning it offhand.

Commissioner #3: You said it was permitted. Permitted by who?

Slaymaker: The Public Service Commission. That’s kind of what David [the attorney] was alluding to- um— larger projects are required to be permitted by the public service commission through- with- a standard utilities certificate. A CPCN, a certificate of public.... I’m sorry but I can’t remember exactly what those words mean, but any utility structure were there is power lines or power plants or anything, all go that same route, through the PSC. It’s a lengthy process, and and certainly they involvelocal government, except for I don’t know all the details of it because we haven’t been through that yet, to you know, discuss it with those that have--

Commissioner #3: So then if you put up one turbine or a hundred turbines you still have to get a permit from the public service commission?

Slaymaker: No. If you do one turbine, you can go to the local government. But if you do a larger project, then it’s required. And that’s something that was mentioned previously that there’s laws on the books, you know, if the project is over 50 megawatts, then it’s utility-er-uh- the state recognizes that project is a utility project and it has to do with shared revenue payments and there’s other things, so there’s a number of laws, Wisconsin laws that control how these things proceed--

Chairman: Our conversation is getting away from this wind tower.

Slaymaker: Yeah it is. Alright so anymore questions on the met tower?

Chairman Anymore questions?

[Attorney for the Developer] David Moore: You know, if they answer these questions, but again, we would also entertain coming back for additional meetings for information on these items, but mainly right now we just want to focus on the met tower. We certainly don’t want anybody in the dark on our bigger picture activities.

Chairman: Our zoning ordinance states that all towers shall be mono pole. So, that means no guy wires.

Attorney Moore: I am familiar with that provision, the question, and I didn’t know whether your town attorney was going to be here--

Attorney Reynolds [Indicating he is there]

Attorney Moore: [surprised] Oh-- the question—um— we brought this as an application under your temporary use provision of your ordinance. And, um, I’m aware that you have a separate tower overlay district, and the question is whether a temporary use comes under the same provisions as your tower chapter— I would assume you could consult with Mr. Reynolds on that issue.

From the position of the company here, this is a necessary step, as the first step to evaluating wind energy, um, and, the problem, from our perspective, is there really isn’t any other way to do it. And a monopole is not practical in terms of expense. A monopole would be a permanent, very expensive, solid structure.

So the best alternative, not just for this company but for any wind energy company is to use a temporary tower. If your ordinance prevents that from occuring, then, then we, we would probably have an issue under the state law--- I haven’t raised that, because I— I don’t know whether---and I didn’t get a chance to talk to Mr. [unintelligible] about this, uh, whether you see it as a problem.

My perspective was, if it was done as a temporary [unintelligible] and not a permanent tower then it would be something that you could do as a temporary permit. But if the interpretation is that any tower, including a temporary structure of this nature must be a monopole, then we would have a legal issue that we’d have to hash out, I guess.

Chairman: It says that all towers shall be monopole—that’s by temporary or permanent or--

Attorney Reynolds: But there is an exception— unless engineering documentation is provided by a licensed professional engineer stating that such a design is not structurally possible. In an event a monopole is not feasible, options for alternatives tower zones shall be brought before the P&Z for a design review and recommendation for the town board for approval. But then it comes to this kind of catch all—it says no towers utilizing guy wires shall be permitted.

Attorney Moore: Right. That’s the problem. Simply stated, if that provision prevents the possibility of testing for wind tower and ultimately wind turbines in your township, the position would have to be that that violates the state statute.

That would be our perspective on it. But I don’t know— don’t want to go there at this point—because I’m trying to interpret your ordinance.

Attorney Reynolds: The only response I have is that statute you quote is for wind systems. And this really isn’t a wind system.

Attorney Moore: No, no it isn’t, and that’s why the alternative way to go about this would be for us to file a CUP [conditional use permit] for a wind system, and step one in that CUP would be the tower, and step two would be evaluation process, step three would be determining whether, um, whether um, [unintelligible] turbines we would want to place, and that would be to put the whole shooting match before you, which for me is putting the cart before the horse, and the better way to do it is to find out whether there is a wind—a wind-uh, possibility here where this is going to be feasible, and not deal with the other stuff unless, and until we have to.

If you prefer that, and that’s why I prefaced this, if you want us to come back with an application that covers the whole shooting match, we’ll do that. And then we’ll be here with uh, a lot more information than what I have tonight. So--

[Discussion continues]

Chairman: I was a little uncomfortable, it just sounds like we’re supposed to get out of the way here—

Attorney Moore:If that's how you feel--

Chairman: That’s what I got from the opening statement. I’m uncomfortable with that.

Attorney Moore: Well, you know, aside from all that, and the priorities of wind power, I think, uh, unless you read this in---- I know as a lawyer, you can read language in very creative ways, and say that this—no tower shall have guy wires— only means this kind of tower. But um, one thing that I would suggest, is— and perhaps you haven’t done that or maybe there isn’t an in-between as to— see if there isn’t some in-between that doesn’t— doesn’t, uh, require the ordinance to be re-written, because I think it would be, technically, from a strict words perspective (laughing) it says no towers. There’s no variance, there’s no exception, it says no towers utilizing guy wires shall be permitted, it doesn’t say “no permanent towers” but, um, there is this option of looking for, you know, a licensed professional engineer stating that such a design is not structurally feasible, and looking for this alternative design, something in between a guy tower, which is prohibited by the statute, and something which would work for this purpose, I don’t know, I’m --

[discussion on what the definition of a tower is- ]

Attorney Moore:The legal argument, I’m sure you understand, if that’s the only way to read the ordinance, then we would argue the ordinance violates the state law.

But I don’t think that’s the only way to read the ordinance.

I mean, your ordinance is law, it’s a good ordinance, but I don’t think it was intended to apply to temporary structures.

If it was, then you have a problem with the state statute.

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Since this discussion, the met tower in Magnolia was permitted, erected, and the developers have applied for their third 12 month extension to keep the met tower in place.

The wind developer has proposed a 67 turbine project for the town of Magnolia. This size of a project allows the developer to bypass local government and local ordinances and send the project to the Public Service Commission for approval.

The Public Service Commission approved the 86 turbine wind farm in Dodge and Fond du Lac county. Since that project went on line in March of 2008  there been have many complaints from residents about noise, shadow flicker, loss of wildlife, and homes that will not sell.

In July of 2008, the town of Magnolia passed a large wind ordinance which, for reasons of health and safety, includes a 2640 foot setback from homes unless a homeowner signs a waiver to have them closer. (download the Magnolia ordinance by clicking here)

At some point in 2007or 2008, the wind developer, EcoEnergy, was bought by Acciona of Spain which will own the project the developers call "EcoMagnolia"

At this time it is not known if the developer has approached the PSC to begin the permitting process.

N is for NOISE: What it's like to live inside of an industrial wind farm:

Part three of three

Here is part three of the most recent update from the Myer Family of Brownsville in Fond Du Lac County, Wisconsin where the wind turbines which surround their home have been on line since March of 2008. (Scroll down for parts one and two)

(Download the entire diary by clicking here)

Click on the image below to watch video shot by the Meyer family to get an idea of the kind of noise they live with.

PART THREE.

December 1 –

6:30 AM Wind W Easy to hear the jet sound over the county snow plow going by and our son plowing snow with his 4-wheeler. This is the sound until 9:45 AM when I went in the house.

4:30 PM Wind W, 14.6 rpms. Loud jet sound.

9:30 PM Wind W Loud jet sound. I hear turbines 6, 4 and 3a with #6 the loudest. Turbine 6 is ¾ mile away from the house.

December 2 –

7:10 AM Wind SW, 6 knots, 18.3 rpms. I have not been outside yet, however I can hear turbine 73 from inside the house thumping away loudly.

8:25 AM Wind SW, 7 knots, 18.3 rpms, dba 51.6, dbc 73.9. I have not been adding very much information recently. The last month I was gone a lot and I am just tired of all the noise from the turbines, am down about it and just don’t feel like writing. It is not that the constant annoying sound is gone. It is ever present.

December 3 –

7:10 AM Wind W. I can hear turbine 4 & 6. 18.3 rpms. 9:50 PM Wind W, 18.3 rpms. Loud jet sound. I also hear turbine 6.

December 4 –

7:10 AM Wind NW. Turbine 4 stopped, but I hear 3a & 6. Turbine 6 is louder, but further away. Very, very audible at ¾ mile away.

10:45 AM Wind NW 10 knots, 13 rpms, Fairly quiet at this time, yet very audible at 1560’ away.

11:00 PM Wind W, 9 knots, fairly loud jet sound from turbines 4 & 6

December 5 –

7:15 AM Wind NW Turbines 4 & 6 loud. 5:15 PM Wind SW. I can hear turbines 73 & 4 fighting to see who can be loudest. This is over the sound of the wind. Also I hear &6.

8:20PM Wind SW, 15 knots, gusts to 20 knots. I can hear &73 in the computer room

9:50 Wind SW. Wind strong and I can hear turbines 4 & 73 over the sound of the wind. Very loud.

12:00 AM I hear turbines from our bedroom.

December 6 –

6:10 AM Wind direction? Too much snow to tell. Very loud even with the wind being strong and snow falling. I can hear turbines 4 & 6. I was at our cabin all day cutting firewood. Even running the chain saw it was much more peaceful than living at home.

9:30 PM Wind NW 18 rpms. Turbine 4 loud jet sound. Turbine 6 is loud as well. I can hear 3a, 75a which is 1 mile.

December 7 –

Wind NNW, 5 knots, 11 rpms but not 11.25 rpms which is needed to generate electricity with the GE 1.5 MW turbine. It is quiet this morning.

12:00 PM Turbines are stopped

3:55 PM Wind S 11 rpms. Like this AM not 11:25. slow turning with hum.

9:25 PM Wind SE, 14.3 rpms. Very audible hum from our sidewalk or 1560’ from the industrial turbine # 4

December 8 –

5:45 AM Wind SE 10.3 rpms. Turning slow with low hum. Some turbines are stopped.

9:45AM Wind NE, 7 knots, Snow. Turning slow and quiet. Sound masked by heavy snow.

I talked with a neighbor today, Ron B, who is very angry at the terrible sound made by the industrial wind turbines one which is 1000’ from his house. He did not have headaches before, but now does. Often he is woke up at night by the turbines and can not get back to sleep.

December 9 –

5:20 AM I hear the turbine sounds inside the house in the back room and the front room and the dining room. I have not been outside yet.

6:50 AM Wind NE, 15 knots, gust to 20 knots, 18 rpms. The air is filled with horrible turbine sounds. The offenders are turbines 4, 3a & 6, earlier #73.

It is so sad that so many people suffer from this wind energy hoax that produces a thimble partially filled with electricity. The 3rd quarter of 2008, this Forward project by Invenergy at 17.5% of its capacity. Yes there is a period between the 7 & 5.

11:05 AM Wind N13 knots, 18.6 rpms, snow, dba 50.3, dbc 79.9. I just got home and turbine sounds are ripping the sky apart especially #’s 4 & 6.

11:30 PM Wind NNW. I can hear turbines in out back room

December 10 –

5 AM I was awakened every few hours last night by the turbine noise.

7:00AM Wind NNW 11 rpms Audible hum.

8:15 AM Wind NE 12 rpms, low hum.

12:45 PM Turbines are still.

9:20 PM wind SW, 13 knots, 18.3 rpms, dba 48.3, dbc 74.1. The sound is that of a low flying commercial jet. In the house there is deep thumping sounds everywhere. Upstairs and down-stairs. In the front room and the back room and bedroom.

Turbine 4 is 1560’ away and turbine73 is 2480’ away. Very sickening, literally.

12:00 AM We hear the turbine sound everywhere in the house. As we went to bed my wife commented on having a headache. She has been hearing the turbine sound all night as she quilted upstairs in the sewing room.

December 11 –

6:05 AM Wind SW, 18.3 rpms dba 48.3, dbc 68.4. Loud jet sound from turbine 4 & 73

8:20 AM Wind SW, 7 knots, 18.3 rpms. I can hear turbines at the dinning room table. Yes, the windows are closed.

9:45 AM Wind NW Walking from my shop to the house I can hear the turbine noise all over to the north. I can hear turbines 6, 4, 3a, 75b and 1. Turbine 1 and 75b are about 1 mile away.

10:55 PM I can hear the turbines in the house especially upstairs even over the sound of the sewing machine.

12:05 AM dba 48.3, dbc 64.9 from just outside our patio door of the dining room. Sound is loud in sewing room upstairs. Also hear in back room.

December 12 –

7:00 AM Wind NW, 14 rpms. Not jet sound, but loud whoosh sound.

1:00 PM Wind SW, 8 rpms. Many turbines stopped.

8:15 PM Wind SW, 7 knots, 18 rpms. Turbines 4, 73 & 6 very loud jet flying over sound. I can hear turbine sounds in the house.

1:15 AM Wind SW, 17 knots, gust to 31, dba 45.5, dbc 75.3. Very loud thumping in the house. I can hear the turbine sound over the TV and in all rooms

December 13 –

6:25 AM Wind SW, 18.3 rpms. The sound is like that of last night. LOUD.

10:10 AM Wind S, 18.3 rpms. Wind gusts are covering most of the turbines sounds.

2:20 PM Wind SSW Fairly loud thump from turbines 4 & 6. 10:15 PM Wind S, 18.3 rpms. Turbines 4 & 73 loud and annoying12:20 AM We can hear turbines in the family room.

December 14 –

3:00 AM the last 2 nights I have been woke up by turbine sounds. Yes, I sleep in the house. It is a thumping sound. In the past I would say my sleep was not affected by the large industrial wind turbines like my wife and son who can’t get to sleep or are awakened by the sounds. Now I realize I am sleeping, however not deep sleep. That is why I am tired and not motivated during the day. It is like a down or depressed feeling.

6:00 AM I’m awake again hearing the turbines in the bed room and other rooms in the house.

9:55 PM Wind SW, 18 knots, gusts 26. Turbine 4 not turning but 73 is and making jet sound. 73 is 2480’ away.

December 15 –

7:00 AM Wind SW Turbine 4 not turning. I can hear # 73.

10:55 PM Wind W Turbine 4 not turning, however turbine 3a can easily be heard from outside the house. 3a - 5/8 mi away

December 16 –

7:15 AM It is very peaceful. All the turbines are stopped.

12:30 PM Turbines still stopped.

3:00 PM Some turbines are now turning. Turbine 4 turning 11 rpms.

10:10 PM Turbines turning slow yet audible in the falling snow.

December 17 –

5:45 AM Turbine 4 turning slow and quiet.

12:20 PM, 14 rpms, loud whooshing.

10:05 PM Wind W, 11 rpms, fairly quiet.

December 18 –

5:40 AM Wind W, No wind = no turbine movement☺ Peace for the moment.

8:15 AM Wind? No wind. All the industrial wind turbines are stopped. It is so peaceful and quiet. For those who are not surrounded by industrial wind turbines (living in a wind farm) please take the time to enjoy the sounds of small birds especially, and other animals.

After the wind turbines invade the area those sounds we take for granted will be gone except for rare instances. We used to see 16 to 20 wild turkeys down the lane behind our house. We have not seen them since construction began except for 1 turkey two months ago.

A friend who lives near turbine 6 who had deer come near his back porch no longer sees them.

1 to 5 PM No turbines turning. It is a peaceful day. I give thanks Oh Lord☺

6:00 PM We left for Lake Mills WI.

December 19 –

Very peaceful. No industrial wind turbines here. We all slept all night. We were helping at a heavy equipment auction. Even with all the track hoes, large dump trucks, large dozers and all the other heavy equipment running it had no health effects like the wind turbines do.

9:15 PM Wind NW. Just got home from Lake Mills and what is the first sound we hear? Of course turbine 4 like a jet flying overhead.

December 20 –

7;00 AM Wind SE Loud jet sound.

10:15 AM Wind E, 13.3 rpms, very audible sound.

9:40 PM Very audible sound while outside 1560’+ from turbine 4

December 21 –

6:20 AM Wind SW New sound, very loud. Sound of very, very loud wind but it is the turbine.

10:50 AM Wind W, 21 knots, gusts 29, I can hear turbine 4 over the strong wind.

9:10 PM Wind W Loud jet sound.

12:00 AM Wind W. I can hear turbine 4 in family room.

I met a family tonight that lives near the 1st turbine erected (#66) and told me about not being able to sleep or of waking up from sleep and of having headaches.

December 22 –

9:30 AM Wind SE 13.3 rpms. Turbine 4 fairly loud.

9:50 PM I can hear turbine 4 between words of the Packer/Bear football game.

December 23 –

7:00 AM Wind SW Turbine 4 & 73 loud jet sound.

8:30 AM Turbines 4 & 73 competing to see which is the loudest. If you don’t remember # 73 is 2480’ (almost ½ mi) from the house.

1:30 PM Wind SW Turbines 4 & 73 ripping the sky apart with their loud sounds.

10:15 PM Wind SSW, 4 knots, 11+ rpms but not 11.25. Calm and fairly quiet but audible.

December 24 –

5:40 AM Calm, too snowy or hazy to see turbines, but no sound. I heard an owl this morning which is the first time in a long time. Before turbine construction we regularly heard anowl in the woods next to our house.

8:45 AM Calm, can’t see any turbine turning.

4:30 PM wind W, 17 knots Loud sound now ☹

9:10 PM Wind W We just got home from Church. This is Christmas Eve and turbine 4 sounds like a jet flying over.

9:55 PM I can hear turbine 4 at the computer.

December 25 –

7:20 AM Wind SE. I can hear turbines 4 & 73 with 73 loudest.

11:45 AM Our daughter and son-in-law discussed turbine sound with # 4 very audible from 1560’.

10:45 PM Wind SW strong. I can hear turbine 4 over the sound of the strong wind.

December 26 –

7:30 AM Wind S. I can hear turbine 4 easily.

9:10 AM Wind S turbine 4 & 73 loud with 73 louder.

1:10 PM same as 9:10 entry.

3:40 PM Wind S Foggy, Turbine 73 louder than 4. Very annoying.

9:30 PM Wind? Foggy, Turbine 4 & 73 LOUD, LOUD LOUD.

11:40 PM I hear turbines thumping from in the house

December 27 –

7:10 AM Wind SSW, 5 knots, very foggy, dba 47.8, dbc 74.4. Very loud. Keep in mind the sound readings are from turbines 1560 & 2480’ away. Turbine 4 &73 are competing as to which can be loudest with ripping the sky apart sound.

12:30 AM Wind W, 14 knots, dba 47.9,dbc 64.9. I have never heard this loud horrible sound before. It is difficult to explain. It is like the Indians would say, “The sounds of thunder of 1000’s of horses rumbling across the prairie”. Like the sky full of the rumble of thunder long before a big storm arrives. There is this sound everywhere. N, S and W. I can hear this sound as I write this at the computer as well as the rest of the house. Horrible, stress causing sound.

December 28 –

7:40 AM Wind W, 22 knots, gusts 28, 18.3 rpms, dba 52.8, dbc 68.9. Like last night the air is full of turbine sounds. Like that of a loud jet flying over or stronger than a whooshing sound. It is easy to hear turbines 4, 6, 3a, 73 & 74a in that order.

2:00 PM We are in Menomonie, MI. We saw no industrial wind turbines on the way here once we got out of Fond du Lac County. We got out of the car and heard no aggravating turbine sounds.

10:30 PM Outside it is peaceful with only the road traffic, no jet flying over wind turbine sounds.

December 29 –

6:00 AM I did not wake up over night due to turbine sounds. Of course the hotel is next to the road (hwy 41). I felt well rested vs. not well rested at home due to no low frequency noise. I did not need a nap or two later to combat being tired like I do at home.

10:30 AM We just returned home. Of course as soon as we stepped out of the garage we heard the %@^&* wind turbines.

5:45 PM Friends from Las Vegas came to dinner. They were surprised and amazed at how loud the industrial wind turbines were and how close it looked (1560’)

11:30PM Very loud jet sound from turbine 4

December 30 –

6:45 AM Wind NW, 7 knots, 11+ rpms, but not 11.25, fairly quiet this morning yet quite audible at 1560’.

4:10 PM Wind N. The turbines are screaming loud, jet sound.

4:35 PM I can hear turbines from inside our house. This is literally nauseating.

8:45 PM Wind N Windy and screaming turbines. Horribly loud.

11:55 PM I can hear turbines in all rooms of the house. How can the PSC endorse and allow this horrible hoax of electricity generation? Many people from other parts of the state and country said to me when the turbine construction began, “Just wait until winter. The sounds will be much worse”.

They were absolutely correct.

Only one person disagreed with that telling me that snow is an insulator and will absorb the sound. That is a pro wind person and lobbyist for wind companies.

December 31 –

5:45 AM Wind NW. Turbines 4 & 6 are very loud. 6 is ¾ mile away. When we went to bed last night my wife commented on her ears buzzing all evening. I talked to a family last night (LB) who is very angry at the sound. They live one mile NW of me and hear multiple turbines in and out of their house and have major shadow flicker problems even though energy companies say flicker is minimal. Not to those that experience it. More lies

PART TWO:

NOVEMBER 2008

November 1-

Wind NE – I was gone all day so I only heard the turbines now when I got home. It is sad the first sound I hear when I get out of the car is the loud jet sound of the turbines.

November 2 –

5:15 PM Wind SE, Very audible at 1560’. I was to my cabin in the woods today. It was so peaceful. When we got home at 6:30 turbines 4 and 73 were filling the air with loud pulsations.

10:10 PM Wind SW 6 knots, 18 rpms, dba 44.6, dbc 61.5. Turbine 4 loud hum, turbine 73 jet sound. We can hear the turbines in our family room.

November 3 –

6:45 AM Wind SW, calm. Jet flying over sound from turbine 4, however loudest sounds are from the South or #73, 74a and more. Turbine 73 is 2480’ away and 74a 5/8 mile, other are further. It looks like the beginning of a bad day.

9:45 PM I can hear the turbines at the computer. Now I will go outside for more.

10:50 PM Wind S, 9 knots, dba 52.8, dbc 75.9. The sound is loud and terrible. I can hear turbines 4, 73, 74a, and 3a in order of loudest first. Turbines 4, 73, and 74a are like a working Chinook helicopter. The sky is thumping with sound.

How ridiculous this is allowed. For those that promote wind energy, but do not live in a wind farm, there are a variety of homes for sale in the project from $399,900 to $125,000 so thereshould be a home for your taste and price range. Oh, I can hear turbine sounds at the computer and in the family room which is at opposite ends of the house. Turbine 73 is 2480’and turbine 4 is 1560’ away.

November 4 –

5:30 AM Wind SW. Loud jet sound from turbines 4 and 73. 11:30 PM Turbine 4 and 73 ripping the sky apart. Very loud. I can hear at the computer.

November 5 –

7:10 AM Wind S. It just continues. That is turbine 4 & 73 pounding away at the sky.

10:20 PM Wind S, 9 knots, I can hear turbines from inside the family room. To me that sound is too loud to be permissible.

November 6 –

5:10 AM Wind S, Turbines 4 & 73 very audible 1560’ and 2480’ respectively.

10:35PM Turbines 4 &73 continue with loud thumping sound.

November 7 –

6:25 AM Wind SE, 16.3 rpms. Turbine 73 is louder than turbine 4. Turbine 73 is 2480’
away.

7:00 PM Wind SW, 16 rpms. Turbine 73 is louder than turbine 4. Very audible @ 2480’.

November 8 –

1:40 AM I am leaving for a flight to Florida to family members to New York. In FL no wind turbines in sight☺

November 9 –

Driving to NY there are no turbines and no crackling in my ear. Stayed in a motel. I slept wonderfully even with road noise. There was no low frequency noise to take away my deep sleep. No turbines.

November 10 –

I:00 AM. I just arrived at another family member in NY City. No turbine noise. Her apartment is in downtown Manhattan. Street noise, garbage truck backup beep, but no loss of sleep. No turbines noise or vibration.

November 11 –

Off to LaGuardia airport to fly home.

3:20 PM home. The first noise in getting out of the car….jet sound of large industrial wind turbine #4☹ It was a nice few days away from the horrible intrusion in to our lives. (wind turbines)

November 12 –

6:35 AM The turbine sound is not so bad this morning.

3:30 PM Wind SW Turbine 4 and 73 are loud. We are busy preparing for our Kansas music trip.

9:30 PM Turbine 4 still very audible at 1560’

November 13, 14, 15 –

We are off to Kansas, but first we must hear turbine 4 grinding away.

7:10 PM We drove all day and did not see an industrial wind turbine☺ We stayed in a downtown hotel in Chanute, KS. The street sound did not affect sleep at all so it was a great relief from the loud sound and vibration of the industrial wind turbines we experience at home.

November 16 –

1:10 PM We drove 3 hours to Manhattan, KS where we will play this evening. Again no large turbines in sight, just beautiful oil wells pumping.

November 17 –

7:10 AM We stayed in the old fashioned strip type motel so there must have been road noise. No effect on my getting good sleep yet the state PSC allowed large industrial wind back home which sure do have an effect on sleep. We played in Wamego High School and headed home seeing no industrial wind turbines on the way.

November 18 –

1:15 AM We arrived home to the sounds, jet sounds of turbines 4 & 6. I spent the day in and out of the house getting ready for deer hunting with the turbines loud, and not so loud and stopped at times.

November 19 –

I have been busy catching up around the house after being gone preparing for winter and hunting, therefore very little information for this noise diary. The sounds are like yesterday most of the time very audible and annoying sounds from 1560’, 2480’ and ¾ mile away.

November 20 –

Again sounds are like the last 2 days and I very busy. 5:00 PM left for hunting. My wife called me at night to tell me the turbines are really loud, especially #6 which is ¾ mile away.

November 21 –

6:30 AM We are at the cabin in the woods. It is so peaceful. I can hear the crows, nuthatches and turkeys. These sounds are not masked by industrial wind turbines here like they are at home.

3:50 PM. My wife called to tell me we had shadow flicker from turbine 74a which is 5/8 mi away.

4:10 PM. It is so quiet and peaceful I can hear from my hunting stand, deer rustling the leaves from over 100 yards away. That would never happen at home with the large wind turbines drowning out these beautiful kinds of sounds of nature. Several neighbors back home with woods from 8 to 20 acres have told me they no longer see deer in their woods where they had before the turbine construction began☹

November 22 – 23

The hunt is on. Again, it is so peaceful and quiet other than times of gun shots. As I have mentioned before at home pretty much the only time we hear song birds is when the industrial wind turbines are not turning or are very quiet.

November 24 –

11:05 AM Wind NW. We just returned home from hunting. Of course we were immediately greeted with the jet sound of turbines 4 & 6. How depressing to experience this constantly when we are at home.

10:20 PM Fairly quiet.

November 25 –

7:10 AM Wind NW, seems calm, 13.3 rpms. Very audible. At times noisy during the day, at time stopped.

November 26 –

7:10 AM Wind NW, calm, 11 rpms. Not 11.25 rpms or below generation speed. Just a hum for sound.

2:22 PM All turbines are not turning. How peaceful.

November 27 –

Wind SW fairly loud sound for this special day.

11:50 AM Wind SW Sound louder than earlier.

2:00 PM Left for hunting.

3:35 PM Arrived at cabin. No turbine, no jet sound or all the side effects of the large industrial wind turbines.

November 28 –

5:00 AM Wind W. It doesn’t matter how strong the wind is here in the woods because there are not industrial wind turbines here.

3:00 PM Wind W It is so peaceful here. ALL I hear are squirrels rustling in the dry leaves and song birds such as nut hatches and chickadees. I even hear their tiny feet going up and down the trees. Those fine sounds are no longer heard at home.

November 29 –

Wind SW. Sound is low hum. 11.3 rpms. 6:10 PM Wind SW, 11 rpms, It has been a fairly quiet day with turbines stopped at times.

9:10 PM Wind S, 10 rpms, I doubt much electricity was produced today with the turbines turning at less than 11.25 rpms much of day.

November 30 –

7:25 AM Wind NE, 14.6 rpms. Much of the day the turbine sounds were covered by the wind and snow storm.

PART ONE:

OCTOBER

He says: "I live in the Forward wind farm erected by the Invenergy Company of Chicago, IL.

I have been a rural mail carrier in this area for 30 years, therefore I know on a personal level most of the residents in this wind farm which is located near Brownsville, Wisconsin.

There are 86 industrial wind turbines here and I delivered mail where 64 of them are located.

I, like most members of our community didn’t pay much attention to the news that the turbines were coming in because we trusted our local town government and the state government to site them responsibly and safely.

We were very naïve.

The set backs are 1000 feet from a residence of a non-hosting landowner, 440 feet the residence from a hosting neighbor and roads. The sound limit is 50 decibels.

These set backs were pretty much written by the energy company, who led us to believe that these set backs were safe. We were told the turbines make about as much noise as your refrigerator or sound like the trees blowing in the wind.

We can hear 5 turbines on a regular basis. They range in distance from 1560’ to ¾ of a mile. At times we hear all five of them inside our well constructed and insulated home. We have lost a lot of sleep because of this noise."

(below is turbine #4 as seen from the Meyer's driveway)

October 21, 2008

7:10 AM Wind NE, 14.6 rpms, quiet.

12:05 PM, Wind NNE, 12.3 rpms. Quiet.

1:20 PM, wind NE, Quiet or at a low hum.

10:20 PM Wind NE, Audible whooshing sound

October 22

Wind NE,11.6 rpms, Not much sound today.

1:20 PM Wind E, wind quite strong today which covers much of the turbine sound. I can hear turbines 4 and 73 as I work outside.

10:35 PM Wind SE fairly brisk but can hear the jet sound of turbine 4.

October 23 –

5:50 AM Wind SE, I hear low volume jet sound.

All day the wind was SE. I can hear turbine 4 over the sound of the wind.

10:25 PM Wind SE, 4 knots, 17.3 rpms. Can hear whooshing or thumping over the sound of the wind. Can hear thumping at the computer. Ears are buzzing. This is new or 1st time.

October 24 –

6:45 Wind SE, 3 knots, Low whoosh but definitely audible at 1560’. Much louder than my refrigerator.

During the day working outside I can hear turbine 4 and 73.

9:45 Wind SW, 7knots, Loud jet sound with thumping sound. Dba 46.5, dbc 68.7.

October 25 –

5:35 AM Wind SW. Jet sound from turbine 4 and can also hear # 73.

11:10 AM Wind SW 17.6 rpms, 11 knots, gusts to 20 knots, dba 45.9, dbc 64.7. Up and down loud jet sound.

ALL day loud, loud, loud. Even over the wind and radio as I worked on the porch.

9:30 PM Wind SW. I can hear turbine sounds between words while watching the World Series. Loud jet sound with bursts of thumping. Ridiculously loud.

October 26 –

6:55 AM Wind SW 12 knots, gusts to 18 knots, 18.3 rpms, dba 47.9, dbc 69.7. Loud
Whooshing sound from turbine 4. Can also easily hear turbine 6 and 73.

10:30 PM Wind NW loud hum.

October 27 –

7:55 AM WindW, Jet sound. All day very audible from 1560’ away from industrial turbine 4.

9:40 PM Wind NW, 6 knots dba 48.9, dbc 64.7. Jet sound with a loud ripping sound.Very audible.

October 28 –

6:30 AM Wind NW. Low jet sound but much louder than my refrigerator.

11:05 AM Wind NW. Continuing being very audible from our sidewalk and kitchen porch.

October 29 –

Wind NW 3 knots, 11 rpms. Low hum, but definitely louder than my refrigerator and this is 1560’ from the turbine.

5:30 PM – 9:30 PM Wind NW calm. It is so blessedly peaceful as no turbines are turning. It’s amazing what sounds are missed while the turbines are spinning☹

October 30 –

Wind SSE, 3 knots, dba 49.4, dbc 69.7. Loud jet sound from #4 & 73. To the South the air is saturated turbine noise.

12:45 PM Wind SSW, 11 knots, gusts to 24 knots. There are jet sounds thumping and pulsating from everywhere. Very nauseating.

I just do not understand how one culture of people (energy companies, PSC, legislature) can do this to another culture of people (average person who bought their property never expecting this would be forced on them)

9:35 PM Wind SSW 8 Knots, The air is again full of turbine sounds. Turbine 4 & 73 are loudest.

If this sound is to be compared to a refrigerator it would be like all the refrigeration units put together from a large ice cream factory. I was gone much of the later part of the day so it was depressing to come home hearing the loud sounds. Yesterday we had a few hours of peace, the first in a few months.

9:50 PM. I can hear a thumping or ripping of the sky from where I sit at the computer. Yes, turbine sounds ☹

October 31 –

Wind SW, 10 knots, 18.3 rpms, dba 49.1, dbc 64.3. The sound is loud and is everywhere. Very annoying. I also can hear the sound at the computer. (South end of house) and family room louder (North end of house).

(below, a picture from inside the same wind farm, Fond du Lac County Dec 2008)

M is for Members of the Committee

and also for Mills FarmLife.

When a wind developer approaches your town board with the news that they plan on siting an industrial wind farm in your community, your local elected officials have two choices:

They can do nothing at all and allow the development to go forward with the wind developers setting the terms-

Or-

They can create an ordinance which protects the health, safety and welfare of residents and also protects the township roads from the inevitable damage that will occur during the turbine construction phase.

When a town decides to create an ordinance, they often declare a moratorium on wind development in order to have the time it takes to research and create the best ordinance possible.

They also often appoint study committees to look deeply into the issue and make recommendations to the Plan Commissioners.

Members of these committees are often residents of the community who volunteer their time to research these issues thoroughly.

When members of the Town of Union's Large Wind Turbine Study Committee were asked how they first heard about this issue and why they decided to volunteer for the study committee, here is what they had to say:

(To download the town of Union's Large Wind Ordinance, click here)

“When I was asked to chair this committee, I made it clear that I would only do so if the committee agreed that it would 'go where the evidence takes us'.

At the time, many of the as yet uncontested arguments in favor of local wind turbine siting were persuasive; and besides, there was the PSC-approved, state 'model ordinance' to protect us.

Well, when the committee's hard work almost immediately produced uncontroverted evidence that the model ordinance had absolutely zero influence from scientific or medical research, and was in fact, written almost entirely by the wind industry itself, and blessed by the PSC, I realized that the whole proposed project was built on a foundation of sand.

More importantly, I realized that since the state government could not be counted on to provide credible guidance, it would be up to the local community to do its own homework on the issues.

I couldn't be more proud of the individuals and professionals I had the privilege of working with in pursuit of an ordinance that actually does protect the health and safety of my neighbors, as well as the legitimate interests of the wind industry.”

Tom Alisankus
Professor of Criminal Justice, Rock Valley College, Rockford
Judge, Evansville Municipal Court
Chairman of the Town of Union’s Study Committee
Resident of the Town of Union, Rock County, Wisconsin
December 23, 2008


“I got involved because a neighbor brought the issue to my attention. I was all for alternative energy, and I still am.

However, the wind developers spoke only of how positive these were and I know from 22 years of law enforcement experience that there are two sides to every story so I agreed to research the issue and I was absolutely stunned at what I found out.

There not only is another side to the turbines, but it is a side nobody from the wind development camp will talk about. I also was shocked at the high level of deceit and deception used by those trying to develop wind turbines. This absolutely shocked me, and it still does.

What I uncovered, was that there was clearly no consideration for those living near the turbines and the consequences involved for those that have to live near these huge industrial machines.

There was no medical and scientific research used in determining setbacks, as the erection of turbines was based solely on financial gain and/or financial motivation. ”

Scott McElroy
Evansville Chief of Police
School Chair of Criminal Justice at
ITT Technical Institute in Madison Wis.
Resident of the Town of Union, Rock County, WI
December 9, 2008



“We first heard about the wind turbines from a family member. He had heard that someone in the Town of Union was talking to a wind developer.

I called a neighbor who farms and asked what he knew about the turbines. He told me that he was going to be a turbine host and his sister and cousin were also interested.

The first and biggest red flag was that the wind developer refused to acknowledge that there were any issues with the turbines. We decided we better find out more. We started collected information from groups around the world that had experience with industrial wind turbines. The more we looked into the issue, the more concerned we became.

The wind developer and the power provider made their first presentation to the Plan Commission and at the next Plan Commission meeting there was a public hearing about wind development. The outcome was a consensus of opinion to take the necessary time to explore wind turbines and develop an ordinance.

A Plan Commission member suggested recommending a moratorium to the Town Board. The Town attorney said a moratorium can be enacted so an ordinance can be developed without pressure of applications. The first moratorium was for 12 months.

After the Plan Commission discussed the idea of forming a citizens committee to research information to use to develop an ordinance, a notice was posted for people to apply for this committee. Since we had already done several months of research, we decided to apply.

Cathy & Jim Bembinster

Small Business Owners

Manufacturers of Commercial Cabinetry

Residents of the Town of Union, Rock County, Wisconsin

December 10, 2208

“I first heard about the proposed Industrial Wind Turbine project for Union Township from a member of our Plan Commission. He informed us the developers had already contacted landowners in the area and offered contracts for siting the turbines.

This prompted me to go on-line to get some information about industrial wind turbines, the pros and cons of these machines. After reviewing the State Model Ordinance for siting these giant turbines, it was clear there wasn't any research done on the health consequences of placing these turbines close to homes. I was convinced more study needed to be done to protect the Health and Safety of Wisconsin residents and volunteered for the study committee.”

Mrs. Susan Pestor
Client Support Analyst II for WPS Health Insurance
Resident of the Town of Union, Rock County Wisconsin
December 10, 2008

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: In the upcoming weeks we will be hearing from other members of similar study committees from all over our state. The map below shows where wind developers have already proposed development in our state or are currently prospecting for sites.

If we've missed any areas on this map please contact us by clicking here and let us know.

 

(Scroll down to read Parts One and Two of this series)

Today we feature two more letters printed in the most recent issue of Mill's Farm Life regarding concerns about siting industrial wind turbines too close to homes.

But before we look at those two letters, let's look at one of the letters sent to Mills Farm Life that didn't get printed. This one is from someone who is living in the middle of a windfarm in Fond du Lac County where the setbacks are 1000 feet from the home of a non participating landowner and as close as 440 feet for a participating landowner.

Dear Doug Peerbolt,

I am hoping this email reaches you.

I pulled the address out of a publication called FarmLife that is circulated here in Wisconsin through Mills Fleet Farm.

I wanted to take a minute and respond to your article on Wind Turbines.

I live in south Fond du Lac County in a wind farm project built by Invenergy LLC.

It consists of 86 wind turbines which is supposed to be phase one of a 133 wind turbine project.

This project alone with 2 other neighboring projects makes up close to 300 wind turbines now standing in our area.

Your article reflected both sides but leaves the reader with the impression that wind turbines are the answer to our electrical needs.

Wind turbines in Wisconsin is nothing but a scam, and here’s why.

When the energy companies state that they will provide enough electricity for thousands of homes, they are taking the rated capacity of the wind farms and dividing it by average home use.

Homes use very little electricity compared to the overall usage on the grid which is around 700 kilowatt hours per month.

It takes almost a 30 mile per hour to produce the rated capacity of a GE wind turbine which is 1.5 megawatts.

Some people have a hard time standing in a 30 mile per hour wind.

When the winds are lower, the capacity drops off sharply.

How many homes are provided with electricity when the wind isn’t blowing?

This summer there where many days of light winds when the turbines were turning. This is because they were powered until the winds became strong enough for the turbine to produce its own electricity.

That’s right, they were using electricity.

Imagine, 86 wind turbines using electricity all day, waiting for wind.

The real drive for wind energy in Wisconsin is money. There is a ton of money out there that the wind energy companies will use to line their pockets. And to make this happen they will pay off the State, County, Townships and landowner to build wind farms.

I am angry at a lot of people these days, mostly for allowing a wind turbine to be placed 1100 feet from my home. This has changed the quality of my life.

Watch this video that I made. It is called “The Wind Isn’t Free”. This 8 minute video tells some of my story.

There is so much to tell but I have taken up enough of your time. I wish that when they talk about Green Energy in Wisconsin that they would put a dollar sign behind the Green.

Thanks for the time,

Larry Wunsch
Pinwheel Junkyard
Brownsville, Wisconsin

(Click on the image below to watch the video made by Larry Wunsch)

From Stockbridge, Wisconsin:

While reading your article about wind turbines, I looked at one of the phonts which depicted domineering wind turbines over a farmstead.

Growing up on a dairy farm, this created a huge conflict for me.

When I think of "green". I don't think of giant spinning industrial machines consuming my farm or a township, a maze of underground high-voltage lines criss-crossing fields, and continuous noise or hundreds of red flashing lights reflecting off of everything in my yard or in windows of my house every night.

I think we all understand the need to develop alternative energy, with the recent uncomfortable feeling about the supply and cost of energy, however, it has brought attention to our current unsustainable energy appetite which has forced us to curb energy use and pay enough to make alternatives viable.

However, because we allowed energy to become an emergency, governments "cut red tape" and inadequate model wind ordinances were created in haste to deal with the "emergency".

Wind turbine industrial parks quickly consumed townships, lakeshore communities, making this a huge test plot without any provisions for the unknown which took many residents by surprise at the lack of organization or regulation.

Because of lower energy costs we now have a second change to develop wind energy in a much more responsible manner without the looming threat of unobtainable energy or an "energy emergency".

We should decided who is ultimately responsible for outcome and TOTAL cost, and have a system in place to enforce this before we, as a community or country decide what is responsible, cost-effective and is in the best interest of the community as a whole.

I don't think anyone is naive to the health risks, the property value issues, possible environmental [issues], the development potential issues, not to mention the impact on the aesthetics of pristine lake shore areas, the impact on wildlife.

We just need someone to step-up and accept responsibilities for these risks.

It has always been my view that for every right someone may have, there is a matching responsibility that should not be separated or allowed to be ignored.

Ask government, wind developers or landowners to hold to this basic ethic. I would ask my fellow landowners, energy consumers who sponsor wind energy, wind developers, and local-through-federal government to consider taking a lot at what total responsibility associated with sponsoring a turbine might entail, and then take personal responsibility to follow through with that responsibility.

Joel D. Portman

Stockbridge, WI

Another Reader Writes:

The issue of industrial wind turbine is very serious to each and every one of us, but is an extremely serious issue if you live too close and are being subject to low and high frequency noise, shadow flicker, ice throws, and loss of property values.

At one time I was in favor of anything considered "green" without really knowing all the facts.

On viewing the wind association's sites, it looks great but I realized this is a big industry that wants to make big money.

Most people do not really care as long as it produces electricity, keeps the cost down and helps to stop global warming and the energy crisis. Would you care about [wind turbines] if they did none of these things or did it very poorly?

This spring at the Calumet County Board meeting in Chilton, Wisconsin, the LLC Wind [developers] were asked the efficiency rate of turbines in this county.

The answer was 33 percent, which means that 67 percent of the time we would receive our electricity from other sources.

We will pay more for our energy bills, not less, since the other sources can not be shut down and expected to be on line when needed.

If our country and we as taxpayers wold be paying four and a half million a turbine, we should expect to get the same efficiency as we do from natural gas, coal, hydro, and nuclear power.

Wind energy can never be depend upon to be available when we need it as [wind farms] are being built in areas that do not support enough wind.

[At the wind plant in neighboring] Brownsville, efficiency was at 17% in the Invenergy Quarterly Report, so 33% is most likely high.

Problems with efficiency is not the only issue.

People who live too close to turbines are developing health issues due to noise.

These problems range from problems sleeping, headaches, exhaustion, nausea and more.

Google "Wind Turbine Syndrome" and "University of Wisconsin's Noise Survey- Lincoln Township Wind Turbine Survey"

Wisconsin, many other states, and Canada allow turbines to be built 1000 feet from homes against the recommendations made by scientists and doctors in the US and Europe who recommend a minimum setback of up to one and a half miles.

Even [wind lobbyists] RENEW Wisconsin at one time recommended such setbacks.

Without safe setbacks people must deal with high and low frequency noise.

Dian Hoerth

Chilton, Wisconsin

PART TWO

From Ad Hoc Committee Member:

"In my studies as a member of the Calumet County Ad Hoc Committee on Wind Energy and the Township of Chilton's Wind advisory Committee (to help create ordinances to control the construction of industrial wind turbines) we reviewed material on many issues, both pro and con.

But the impact of wind turbine sound was the greatest concernthat people had.

We looked at many different siting setback distances in addition to the 1,000 feet used in the State of Wisconsin's Model Wind Ordinance.

Based [on] Dr. Nina Pierpont's research into health effects on people living near wind turbines, many sound engineers now recommend at least one and one half miles to protect people from the effects of low frequency sound.

Low frequency sounds can not be heard but are felt by people who live near wind turbines. They have described it as a "feeling " in their chest.

Often the sound that the industrial wind energy developers say a wind turbine makes is the same as your refrigerator running- a sound we hear every day.

I would like to give you the real story.

Your refrigerator gives a very monotone sound and it does not run 24/7, located in the kitchen where we are active and other noises fill the room.

If it were in your bedroom and turned on and off every few seconds would it be hard for you to sleep? Of course it would!

Wind turbine sound can easily go from being part of the normal background sounds to annoying and possibly hazardous noise pollution.

They have been described by some as a concrete truck constantly mixing, and a jet that is coming but never gets here and never goes away.

It has been said the sound of the wind in the trees and other vegetation will mask the sound of the wind turbine. However, it is not unusual for the wind to be calm at ground level and the wind turbine will still be running full speed up on it's 240 foot pedestal.

These problems can be reduced through proper placement of wind turbines and consideration of nearby homes and businesses.

"Noise Produced by Wind Turbines is Not A Major Concern for Humans Beyond a Half Mile" This is from a book titled: Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy, Published in 2007 by the National Academy of Science, commissioned by the executive office of the President's Council on Environmental Quality.

I feel that a half a mile sould be the minimum distance from a home.

Nobody should be allowed to enter into an agreement to reduce this distance because we may all have to bear the future medical needs of that person or their family. The individual's health is the most important issue.

We have a duty to protect everyone while we find ways to use renewable energy sources.

Daniel Hedrich

Chilton, Wisconsin

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Wind developers are often comparing industrial turbine noise to that of a refrigerator. But where did that comparison come from? After some research, a colleague of ours traced it back to Tom Gray of the American Wind Energy Association.

Click on the image below to find out more:

Part One

In the most recent issue of Mills Farm Life, along with a cover story on the dairy farming practices of one of our favorite Wisconsin cheese makers--The Crave Brothers---, there is a feature called

"Wind Turbines on the Skyline: Are they too close for comfort?

This feature is in response to a story on wind farms which ran in the winter issue. After Farm Life received a number of letters from people who had concerns that the whole story wasn't being told, Mills graciously decided to let a few of these letter writers have an opportunity to tell us more.

We thank people for taking the time to write these letters to Mill's Fleet Farm about this important issue and we thank Mill's Fleet Farm for printing them.

The first letter is from a retired physics teacher:

"I read your article and think you did a good job of informing the public about wind turbines. I was one of the two physics teachers on the Calumet County Wind Turbine Study Committee.

We read material from many different sources, visited wind farms, and listened to experts on various topics connected with wind turbines. We debated articles that we read as to whether they were fact or opinion.

The United States needs wind turbines as a source of energy but the wind turbines should be kept far enough away from the people who live there so that they are not exposed to excessive noise.

The 1000 feet [setback] was OK when turbines were 0.6 megawatts but modern wind turbines are larger and noisier.

The distance should be at least 1800 feet and in some cases 5000 feet.

If a temperature inversion occurs over the wind farm (when the air next to the ground is cooler than the air above the wind turbines) it will produce much more noise than normal because it causes the sound to be refracted (bent) back toward the ground.

The sound gets very loud at distances up to four miles and can last for a day or two.

The wind turbine builders know exactly what they want in a contract; the farmer does not and needs a lawyer.

These are some of the things that should be in the contract:

How far from the house will the turbine be?

How many roads, wires and pipes will be put on and into my land?

Is there any inflation payment which increases with time?

How long is the contract in force? (some leases are for 30 to 180 years)

How large and noisey of a turbine will be constructed?

How many decibels of noise will my family be exposed to?

If the noise is excessive, how is that problem solved?

Will the ground be returned to normal (top soil on top and sub soil below) after construction?

Who pays for the removal of the wind turbine?

Will the replacement turbine be larger and noisier than the present one?

Farmers will find it difficult to get the necessary information about wind turbines. When farmers sign leases, they apparently agree not to say anything negative about their wind turbines.

Many counties and towns in Wisconsin are passing ordinances involving wind turbines but wind turbine companies (most of which are owned by foreigners) have gotten around this by building wind farms larger than 100 megawatts, at which point, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin takes over regulation of the project and the county and town ordinances are ignored.

Gerhald Hansel,

Appleton, WI.

TOMORROW, another letter to Mill's Fleet Farm from a study committee member.

L is for Letters to Lepinski:

Residents speak out about life in a wind farm approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

(Fond du Lac County home, winter 2008)

In April of 2005, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved wind developers plans to build a 133 turbine industrial wind plant in Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties. The PSC approved the setback distances of 450 feet from the home of a participating landowner and 1000 feet from a non participating landowner.

PSC records indicate these setbacks are based on Wisconsin's draft model wind ordinance. (PSC Ref #37618, p.30)

Some time after an open records request from the town of Union study committee revealed that no medical or scientific data was used to determine the safety of these setbacks, (in fact, the ordinance appears to have been written largely by power companies, wind developers and wind lobbyists),-- the draft model ordinance was pulled from the Wisconsin State website.

The Public Service Commission has been unable or unwilling to say who pulled the ordinance from the website, when it was removed or why. At this time, questions about the origins and authors of the ordinance used to site turbines in Dodge and Fond du Lac county remain largely unanswered.

Residents who are experiencing trouble with turbine related noise, shadow flicker and other negative effects of living too close to turbines are speaking out about it.

Here are excerpts from letters sent to Public Service Commissioner Jim Lepinski.

The bitter tone of these letters reflects the general feeling of many residents in Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties who are now living with the results of the PSC's decision.

(Fond du Lac County home, Winter 2008)

January 2, 2009

Dear Jim Lepinski,

It has been almost a year now since the Forward Energy wind turbines have went on line.

I have tried to keep an open mind and change the way I have looked at wind farms, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

I have seen a number of homes in this wind farm go up for sale.

(Home for Sale, Fond du Lac County, 2008)

Some of the homes are lived in by people that were born and raised here this township, but because of the issues from the wind turbines, they said it just doesn’t feel like home any more.

The homes for sale in our township that are in the wind farm project still have not been sold. In more than one case, the prospective buyers have stated that they were uncomfortable living so close to a wind turbine or just did not want to live so close to a wind turbines in general.

I guess so much for the REPP study [submitted to the PSC] that states property values actually go up inside wind farms. I always wondered why the attorney for Forward Energy told the Town of Byron Board of Appeals that if they had to provide adjacent non-hosting land owners with a property value protection agreement, that the company would not be able to get financing for the wind farm.

(Home for sale, Fond du Lac County, Winter 2008)

Months ago I sent you a DVD with some of my complaints but have not heard anything back.

Use this link if you need to be refreshed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOImGHyJtQ

[or Click on the image below to watch]

Shadow Flicker
Invenergy told the PSC and Dodge County Board of Appeals that shadow flicker would be minimal. They stated that with modeling software they could almost eliminate this. This is BS. I get shadow flicker for 6 weeks in the fall and 6 weeks in the spring. As you can see from the video this is not minimal. Have someone in your home consistently turn the lights on and off and see if you can concentrate on a something like reading.

(Click on image below to watch video wind turbine shadow flicker inside and outside of homes in Fond du Lac County)

Noise
People who state that wind turbines are very quiet are probably good candidates for a lobotomy. I have not slept with the windows open on my house since the turbines have went on line. There are days when it sounds like a jet engine idling on an airport taxi-way. There are other days when the noise is so intense, we can hear them through the walls of our home. Don’t come to me with the 50 decibel thing. I am not a sound expert. All I know is I was told [we'd] hardly hear them. Just another lie.

[Note from BPWI Research Nerd: The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) seems to be the source of the comparison of the sound of an industrial wind turbine to that of a refrigerator. This comparison is often repeated by wind developers seeking to site a project. Click on the image below to find out more]

Ice throw

I remember this one well. Joel Link at Dodge County hearings along with Mark Jacobson stating the this type of new designed turbine does not have ice build up on its blades, and if it should the turbine would shut down.

I was plowing snow in my driveway on December 23rd when I noticed out of the corner of my eye what looked like a bed sheet diving to the ground. After the second time this happened, I figured it out. The turbine was shedding a ice/snow mix and the second one landed just short of my property line.

I will tell you this, that if this event in the future should cause property of bodily harm, I will be out for blood. If you don’t believe me about the ice/snow build up, see for yourself.

(Click on image below to watch video which shows the ice and snow build-up on two of the turbine blades, and the blade where the ice fell off as described. Click here for link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EmYe2u6J6g )

Where do I go from here?

I can’t complain anymore to the Town chairman.

He stated in an interview with Ted Perry from Channel six in Milwaukee that the town residents that are complaining about the wind farms issues are "implants" in the town and "not good stand-by people". So I am wasting my breath talking to this clown and the other two [town board] morons.

I can’t complain to my State Reps because they have told us that it’s a local issue and not within their control, but yet the state creates a law which the wind companies use to force their way into a community to erect turbines and destroy the community atmosphere [and] they use a model ordinance that was drafted by (guess who) energy company officials to address concerns.

I would be wasting my time talking to [wind developer] Invenergy people like Mick Baird, Joel Link and Mark Jacobson who basically never addressed concerns early in the project design and have told town residents that I and others are just a trouble-makers.

So here I am typing this letter to you.

I don’t know of any other way at this time to enforce what a poor decision this has been on the part of the PSC.

I am shocked that the Public Service Commission didn’t place parameters in this project to protect me and other residents within the wind farm project.

I don’t want to hear the "Not In My Back Yard" thing. [I have a turbine 1100 feet from my home]

Do any of the PSC commissioners have a wind turbine 1100 feet from their home, or does any State Rep have a wind turbine 1100 feet from his/her home?

Best yet, do you know of an energy company official with a wind turbine 1100’ from his/her home?

I didn’t think so.

Let’s focus on the truth, this isn’t about renewable energy, it’s about money.

This is just another scam were an LLC develops something to take advantage of subsidized money to stuff millions in their pockets.

I am not sure where this is all going in the future, but I know this has taken away a quality of my life.

This is why residents of Wisconsin don’t trust the judgment of the PSC or their own State Reps. I hope the PSC learns and [will] not bend to the pressure of lobbyists.

Larry Wunsch
Brownsville, Wisconsin
(920) 583-2210

To Jim Lepinski, Public Service Commissioner:

I am writing in disgust to you about the wind turbine project that went up around the town of Brownsville.

My family and I live in the township of Leroy. We came to live out here about five and a half years ago, looking for a nice community to live in and raise our children.

We thought we had found an area where people would look out after one another and show decent good values towards their neighbors. Obviously this is not the place, nor the people that I thought were out here.

Now all I hear when I go outside to my once quiet yard is that thumping swishing noise created by those stupid wind turbines. Not to mention how ugly those things are with their stupid red lights on top of them.

I feel like we now live in the middle of an industrial park!

If I wanted to live in an industrial park with noise and lights we would have lived in a city. We chose to live on a quiet rural road where no real disturbing sounds existed up until now. We were never in favor of those things to go up around here. I have never heard anything good about living next to them and now I know it as a fact.

My husband did go to a couple of the town hearings before they voted to put them up, only to have [his words fall] on deaf ears. I think maybe those who were supposed to be listening to the opposers of this project were probably doodling while their pleas were being said. My husband and I are tax paying upright citizens, who have worked hard for what we have. We have done nothing but renovate our house, trying to make it a nice home, only to have you and your people knock it all down.

The really great thing is, you don't care.

No one cares.

Do you live next to these things? I bet none of you do.

I am personally inviting you to come out to our house while they are turning, which is ninety percent of the time, so you can hear for yourself what a nuisance these things are.

Thank you so much for considering people like me. You know it takes us average middle class citizens to make your stupid townships and counties go round. Do we deserve this?

If you guys think they are so great, why don't you put them up in YOUR backyards! I don't care what anyone says, you all sold your souls to the devil for a little bit of money.

You had men put these things up, and they can take them down. This is not a God-made creation, they are man-made pieces of junk that are creating a lot of noise in my yard.

I want something done about this!

Start making laws that protect innocent citizens like us from this stupid project.

Sincerely outraged,

Julie Gullickson

Town of Leroy

Want to send a letter to Jim Lepinski at the PSC?

his email address is jim.lepinski@psc.state.wi.us

Click here to visit the PSC website

"HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT"

(this information comes from our sister website, WINDCOWS)

Click here to find out how to file a complaint

Contact Wisconsin Department of Justice
J.B. VAN HOLLEN, Attorney General
P.O. Box 7857
Contact Public Integrity Bureau
LINK TO COMPLAINT FORM (send to):
loweryrr@doj.state.wi.us

Contact the State Ethics Board