Calumet County supervisors jumped the gun on new wind turbine rules this summer even while asking the state Supreme Court to consider whether its old ordinance met legal muster. A denial from Wisconsin's justices will now require the county to put that early work to action. The state Supreme Court on Friday denied Calumet County's petition for review of an appeals court decision that invalidated the county's wind turbine rules. The ordinance dictated setbacks and maximum heights and sound levels for all turbine construction within its zoning jurisdiction.

Wisconsin’s endangered species law (s. 29.604, Wis. Stats.) requires the Department of Natural Resources to notify the public when it proposes to authorize the incidental taking of a state endangered or threatened species.

Business has been slow, so dairy farmer Bernie Kozlovsky could use a little extra cash as much as the next guy. But a developer's offer of $6,000 annually for access to his property has Kozlovsky - and many of his neighbors - conflicted about whether to welcome a wind farm into southern Brown County. The proposal by Chicago-based Invenergy LLC would be Brown County's first major commercial wind farm and would be larger than any currently operating in the state.

[Walter] Wiersma, of Friesland, was one of many people at the standing-room-only hearing who said worries about the health effects, safety and noise from wind turbines in a 17,300-acre area of the towns of Scott and Randolph, should lead the commission to reject the We Energies proposal for Glacier Hills Wind Park. "I'm for green energy," he said, "but I don't want it to hurt my family and friends." The afternoon and evening sessions for the hearing were moved from the Randolph Town Hall to the Friesland Village Hall to accommodate more people.

Walter Wiersma considered introducing a photo of his children - 5-year-old Spencer and 3-year-old Rianna - into the written record of Wednesday's Public Service Commission of Wisconsin hearing to illustrate his opposition to electricity-generating wind turbines in northeast Columbia County. Wiersma, of Friesland, was one of many people at the standing-room-only hearings who said worries about the health effects, safety and noise from wind turbines, in a 17,300-acre area in the towns of Scott and Randolph, should lead the commission to reject the We Energies proposal for Glacier Hills Wind Park.

We Energies has run into some headwinds in its bid to build the biggest wind farm in the state. The Glacier Hills Wind Park project in Columbia County would consist of 90 turbines rising at least 400 feet above corn fields near the village of Friesland, northeast of Madison. The Milwaukee utility proposed the project, its second large wind farm, as part of an expansion of renewable energy to comply with a state law that passed with bipartisan support in 2006. The law calls for wind turbines and other renewable energy systems to power 10% of the state's electricity by 2015.

As the blades of the 86 turbines on the Forward Wind Energy Center remain still, rumors have been circulating faster than the wind as to why the wind farm has been offline since Sept. 29. Invenergy LLC officials attributed the shutdown to scheduled maintenance of the wind farm's substation. However, the latest buzz that a major utility pulled out of its power purchase contract and has left Invenergy without a new customer to fill the void simply isn't true.

Most of what the public knows about wind turbines comes from the media. Without a grounding in the sciences of thermodynamics and economics, the average person, eager to be politically and environmentally correct, fixates on the concept of "free energy," and closes his mind to further discussion of how expensive "free" can be. The public believes, more than it really knows, about wind turbines, and well-meaning advocates of wind as the solution to our climate and energy woes are unknowingly on a crash course with reality.

Officials in Union and Magnolia townships consider moratoriums on wind turbines to be the temporary answer in response to a new state law. Wind developer EcoEnergy has proposed projects in both communities. Local residents are concerned the new process on siting wind energy systems signed into law this week will erase their work to protect themselves from negative effects.

To paraphrase a southwest Wisconsin lawmaker, now the devil is in the details. On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill that calls for state regulators to come up with statewide rules for wind farms. The state Public Service Commission's rules will trump any local ordinances, including several moratoriums enacted by the Smelser Town Board of Trustees.

The potential effects of a wind energy farm proposed for eastern Columbia County were outlined in a final environmental impact statement, released this week by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. The document - composed of more than 100 pages, plus a second volume of maps, diagrams and photo simulations of how the wind turbines might change the vista in the farmland of the towns of Randolph and Scott - addresses issues such as noise, the turbines' effects on birds and bats, potential effects on agriculture and health and safety issues.

A 90-turbine wind farm proposed for northeast Columbia County, in Scott and Randolph townships, would have little impact on wetlands or birds but neighbors may not like the way the structures stand out against the rolling hills, according to the final environmental impact statement on the project.

Minnesota regulators on Thursday approved a 200-megawatt wind farm in southern Minnesota that would be paid for by Wisconsin utility ratepayers. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said Wisconsin Power & Light Co.'s project can be built just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. The utility received a permit for a 200-megawatt wind farm, the first phase of what officials hope will eventually become a 400-megawatt project. The first phase would generate enough energy to power 50,000 homes.

Even though gusty winds howled through the area earlier this week, the 86 wind turbines on the Forward Wind Energy Center have remained still since Tuesday. ..."The reason the plant was down was due to preventative maintenance being performed at the substation," Miner said.

Regulating small wind farms in Wisconsin often is akin to holding a jury trial without a judge. Wind farm developers and municipalities argue their respective cases without anyone to referee the inevitable disputes that arise. That soon could change. ...Now it's up to the PSC to develop rules that are fair to everyone. Developers and local communities ultimately will be the judges of that.

Wisconsin Power & Light Co. won approval Thursday from regulators in Minnesota to build a wind farm in southern Minnesota to supply renewable energy to its Wisconsin customers. ...Exactly when construction on the project will begin remains unclear, because of uncertainty about the Wisconsin lawsuit.

In the years since the Forward Wind Energy Center came on line, "For Sale" signs have popped up all over Gerry Meyer's rural neighborhood in the town of Byron. ...Meyer is convinced that the aesthetically displeasing look of the 400-foot turbines and subsequent ill effects experienced by nearby residents from the noise, vibration and light-flicker has caused housing values to plummet.

Calumet County's crusade to create restrictive blanket rules for turbine construction suffered another setback after the state Legislature passed a bill this week that would create a statewide standard for placing turbines. The bill will hit the desk of Gov. Jim Doyle, who is expected to sign it. County Board Chairman Bill Barribeau said state standards - which would be set by the Public Service Commission - would override local ones.

A group that fought this week's approval of a wind power siting bill in the state Legislature will receive nearly $16,000 to raise concerns about the new wind farm being proposed by We Energies in Columbia County. The Coalition for Wisconsin Environmental Stewardship had proposed to spend $17,525 on expert witnesses, research and legal fees in the Public Service Commission case involving the Glacier Hills Wind Park.