Within the next week, the Winona County Economic Development Authority (EDA) could be the proud recipient of two meteorological towers on loan from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, according to EDA member Anne Morse. A meteorological tower, or “met tower,” is typically a structure between forty and fifty meters tall that provides a setting for an anemometer, a device that gauges wind.

"To push harder for renewables, we need to have data in order to do it responsibly," said Bull. "In the meantime, while we're doing this, we're focused on wind energy and natural gas costs and pushing utilities beyond where their comfort level is. We'll continue to push for more renewables where we see the benefits to consumers."

In late February 2009 the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) received a request from the Office of Energy Security (OES) in the Minnesota Department of Commerce, for a “white paper” evaluating possible health effects associated with low frequency vibrations and sound arising from large wind energy conversion systems (LWECS). MDH agreed to evaluate health impacts from wind turbine noise and low frequency vibrations. In discussion with OES, MDH also proposed to examine experiences and policies of other states and countries. Below are the Introduction and Conclusions of the white paper released in May 2009. The full report can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A 90-DAY MORATORIUM WITHIN THE CITY OF FERGUS FALLS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS (WECS), THEREBY AMENDING CHAPTER 7 ENTITLED ZONING AND SUBDIVIDING, BY ADDING A NEW SECTION 7.43 FOR THAT PURPOSE; AND, BY ADDING BY REFERENCE, CITY CODE CHAPTER 1 AND SECTION 7.99 WHICH, AMONG OTHER THINGS CONTAIN PENALTY PROVISIONS.

At its August 23, 2007 meeting, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission requested that the Department of Commerce's Energy Facility Permitting staff consult with stakeholders and prepare for the Commission's consideration general permit standards and setback recommendations to satisfy the legislative mandate. The PUC issued this order on Jan 11, 2008.

This document includes studies in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

In this report we discuss some recent studies that have occurred in the United States since our previous work [2, 3]. The key objectives of these studies were to quantify the physical impacts and costs of wind generation on grid operations and the associated costs. Examples of these costs are (a) committing unneeded generation, (b) allocating more load-following capability to account for wind variability, and (c) allocating more regulation capacity. These are referred to as “ancillary service” costs, and are based on the physical system and operating characteristics and procedures. This topic is covered in more detail by Zavadil et al. [4].

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.

Industrial wind turbines, utility-scale turbines -- whatever you call them, they are popping up all over the state. Minnesota is requiring utility companies to be using 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. When I ask most people what they know about turbines, most reply, "They are green energy!" When I probe for more information, they know nothing more. I'd like you to join me on a short journey to see what it is like to live near a wind project.

Congress and many state legislatures, including Minnesota's, are exaggerating the potential for renewable energy, especially from wind, solar and biofuels. By assuming that wind can supply 20 percent to 25 percent of our electric power in the coming decade, or that farm fields can replace oil and gas fields, our representatives can avoid voting on hard choices.

The "going green" statement are becoming boring and redundant. Those of us in rural agriculture production have been "going green" for more than 100 years; the press just keeps changing the term. If wind were such a great idea here, why didn't the power companies build wind turbines years ago? The turbine I built five years ago is for sale. The reason: not enough wind!

I am a part of a group of landowners from the Eyota-Viola area who are involved in the planning stages of starting a wind farm east of Rochester. What a wonderful, green, and patriotic thing to do -- provide the public with green, renewable energy. What could possibly be wrong with wind energy? Well, I'm having second thoughts -- not about my friends and neighbors or the people helping develop this project, but wind energy in general.

As I drove into Fargo from Rollag, Minn., our home for seven years, I saw my signs of spring. The dogwood branches were blazing red, willow trees a bright lemon gold, and another bush, nameless, had brilliant orange branches. The drive was wonderful and painful at the same time. From Glyndon to the southeast corner of Clay County, a little of Otter Tail and Becker counties, the land will be covered with a possible 500 wind turbines.

Stutsman County officials should not be cowed by a wind developer whose business model condones theft of wind rights or be misled by a state legislator. They are to be commended for trying to protect landowner rights and safeguard the reputation of a growing and beneficial wind industry. If only our Dickey County Commission, the North Dakota Public Service Commission and the Legislative Assembly would show similar leadership.

We live in Leota Township not far from the present wind farm. Instead of peaceful rolling countryside, we get to look at a hundred hulking towers over 300 feet tall. Imagine if all the street lights in Worthington were all bright red and blinked on and off at the same time. Imagine if there were 10 windmills across the middle of Lake Okabena, and the people surrounding the lake got to look at and listen to these 300-foot towers with whirling blades in the daytime and the 10 bright red beacons flashing on and off at night.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is proposing $85 million in tax breaks to create jobs in solar energy, methane gas, and wind energy. According to the governor, we're going to have a whole new manufacturing sector building solar power plants and wind turbines, and his tax breaks will bring those new jobs to Minnesota. Isn't that a good idea? No. It's a bad idea.

What's the problem with the Pickens Plan? We've been told that the main obstacles to wind power are financial and technological. The Pickens Plan buys into this logic. But senior wind leaders know more. They have revealed that while technology and investment matter, one of their biggest challenges to installing large wind farms is building social acceptance. Don't Americans love wind power? A 2008 Zogby International public poll reported that 85 percent of the 7,000 Americans surveyed agreed that federal incentives should support wind-energy development. While polls show that most Americans overwhelmingly support wind power in theory, few communities are asking for large-scale wind projects in their back yards. ...While the Pickens Plan is bold, it lacks a nuanced understanding about the obstacles to wind power. Where there is a lack of social acceptance, it is often the result of industry players who assume that "green" power is always welcome and can operate outside the bounds of the democratic process. The Pickens Plan shares some of this hubris.

Coal mines always have been big business. Wind farms are getting to be. And when heavy-hitting companies such as North American Coal Corp., Minnesota Power and Florida Power and Light are eyeing an area of real estate, you bet it's consequential. The real estate isn't paltry; it's a lot of acreage in Oliver and Morton counties. Minnesota Power and FPL want to build separate wind farms. But the coal company says, "Wait a minute, we may want to mine where you guys are talking about putting up wind turbines. That won't work."

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer has the right idea when he said this week it is time to bring coal and wind-power industries together to talk about development in the state. FPL Energy of Juno Beach, Fla., is being joined by Minnesota Power of Duluth, Minn., in pursuing wind farms in Oliver and Mercer counties. FLP Energy already has filed papers with the state PSC for its 250 square-mile proposal in the two counties. Minnesota Power is expressing a desire for its own wind farm in Oliver County. The primary problem arises, however, if these wind projects with their expensive turbines are targeted for land that holds coal to be mined.