Doug Decker doesn't understand what all the dust-up is about when it comes to wind turbines, but he realizes there have been stormy conflicts over the tall structures.

Decker could be considered one of the state's experts on coexisting with turbines. He has lived beside two of them since 1999 and lets We Energies operate them on about 12 acres of his 95-acre farm along Highway 41 in Fond du Lac.

"It's been a very good experience," said Decker, who works as a mechanic for Alliant Energy, which also is developing wind turbines.

The 208-foot towers on his land are set back about 1,300 feet from buildings and about 600 feet from the road, he said. He farms up to just a few feet from the base of the turbines, growing soy beans, corn and alfalfa.

He disputes claims by wind turbine opponents in many Wisconsin communities that the structures cause bird deaths, consistently block sunlight and are noisy.

"We also have the nearby highway and trains to contend with, so the noise is not really a factor," he said. "And as for the birds, it's not like we have a pile of goose pâté below the towers. They know how to fly above or around them.

"And I can tell you there is no stray voltage because we have gopher holes right up to the base of the towers."

Wind turbines have taken center stage in Wisconsin recently as at least one major project is coming on-line. We Energies is expected to have the 88 wind turbines of the Blue Skies, Green Fields wind farm in Marshfield fully operational by May, said utility spokesman Brian Manthey.

Michael Vickerman, executive director of Renew Wisconsin, an environmental group that supports wind turbines, predicts 195 more modern windmills will be in the state by the end of the year.

The gusto utilities show pursuing the renewable-energy source proves there is some green to be made in green-energy production.

The helicopter-looking structures will soon be sprouting up like dandelions across the state's landscape, particularly around the windy region along the Niagara escarpment ridges in the state's eastern Door Peninsula.

The state sweetened the deal for the utilities by exempting wind turbines from personal property taxes.

And Vickerman said there is one more financial benefit from developing the average 260-foot-tall structures: While it might not be a windfall, he said there are cost savings as a result of the need to produce less energy from coal and gas plants, along with federal incentives.

Besides savings and financial incentives, there are other reasons for the growth of wind turbines.

In March 2006, the state mandated 10 percent of Wisconsin's overall energy production come from renewable sources of energy by 2015, with 25 percent expected by 2025.

Biomass sources, solar and hydroelectric also can provide renewable fuel, Manthey said, but he added that wind turbines will by far be the best source for years to come because of better existing technology.

Manthey said about 145 megawatts of the 210 megawatts of additional renewable capacity that We Energies is required to generate by 2010 will come for the Marshfield Blue Skies, Green Fields project.

Yet to meet its portion of the state wind turbine mandate, the utility will probably need to construct up to 450 wind turbines by 2015, said Andy Hesselbach, wind farm project manager for We Energies.

But the seemingly benign wind turbines do have their opponents. In fact, based on information gathered by Renew Wisconsin, the turbines are usually opposed by area residents. The group said only two of the 19 wind projects in Wisconsin during 2007 lacked local citizen opposition.

One of the most active opponents is Mike Winkler, whose longtime family home is near the Marshfield turbines. His novel, "Wind Power - It Blows," is a fictional account of fighting wind turbine installations.

Winkler and his family sued the Town of Marshfield and We Energies in 2004 to stop the Blue Skies, Green Fields project. But a Fond du Lac circuit court ruled Winkler had no standing because the wind turbine agreement was between the town, the utility and renting farmers, not the Winkler family.

Winkler said the turbines don't really help save energy costs because they are subsidized by the government. He also said he believes research into cellular ethanol and nuclear technologies provides a much better, long-term answer to state and national energy needs.

Winkler said he agrees with the usual arguments against the large structures.

"These ones [in Marshfield] will be huge," Winkler said of the wind turbines.

"The top height of the blade will be higher than the U.S. Bank Building in Milwaukee - some 420 feet. The blades will weigh seven to nine tons each, and the span will be wider than a 747 airplane is long."

Vickerman said many claims against wind turbines are exaggerated.

He added the cost of developing wind power also is likely to cheapen over the long haul compared to the electricity provided from coal or gas plants because there is no fluctuation in fuel cost with wind.

Vickerman said he believes the growth in wind production is at the right pace to meet the 2015 state mandate. He said there are 55 commercial turbines in operation in Wisconsin, amounting to 53 megawatts of wind capacity.

"But this year," he said, "we will have another 342 megawatts come on-line from 195 new turbines."

He also said he sees the wind turbine industry picking up more steam as the technology advances.