The Albany County Commissioners tabled a proposed set of commercial wind energy regulations on Tuesday, thereby sending it back to the planning and zoning commission for more discussion.

The proposed wind energy regulations were before the commissioners for a second time for approval.

Nevertheless, the commissioners said there were too many conflicting viewpoints between the planning staff, the planning and zoning commission and the wind energy companies to move forward.

Commissioners Chairman Tim Sullivan suggested a special meeting between all of the groups involved to come up with wind energy regulations they could all agree upon.

"This is a big deal," Sullivan said of his reason for calling a special meeting. "This is going to affect the county and everybody coming in."

David Gertsch, an Albany County assistance planner, said the proposed wind energy regulations were tabled in a previous meeting to address issues pertaining to jurisdiction, financial assurance and wildlife impact studies.

For the noise issue, Gertsch said the commissioners had a choice of three alternatives.

The first option would allow for sound up to 55 dBA (A-weighted decibels) at the wind farm's property line. For a comparison, conversational speech from one meter away has a sound level of 60 dBA.

The second would be to measure the sound level from any residence or primary structure and allow for a sound level up to 55 dBA.

The final option would be the same as the first, but it would allow a company to obtain an exemption if its wind farm borders federal or state land.

Gertsch said the county planning staff recommended the first option, with the third as the next-best choice.

The second issue, financial assurance for decommissioning costs, also offered three options, Gertsch said.

The commissioners could require a wind energy company to pay 100 percent of its financial assurance up front, whereas the second option would be a payment of 50 percent at the time of application and the remainder by the fifth year of the project.

The third option would be to allow a wind energy company to pay 100 percent of its financial assurance in the fifth year after submitting an application.

Gertsch said the county planning staff recommended the first option, even though there are many communities that allow a wind energy company to delay the decommission payment.

The third issue with the county's wind energy regulations is exempting a wind energy company from performing wildlife impact studies if it's going through the Industrial Siting Council.

Gertsch said the county planning office currently requires that a wind energy company allow the Wyoming Fish and Game Department to review its project, and that the report be submitted with its application.

However, a wind energy company going through the Industrial Siting Council would already have to submit to wildlife impact and cultural resources studies, thereby making the county's requirement redundant.

Sullivan said he would like to see the county's wind energy regulations for wildlife impact studies converge with what the Industrial Siting Council requires.

"We can dovetail those two items together ... so that we're not making somebody going through the Industrial Siting (Council) process do something different at the county level," Sullivan said. "I just don't want to be over restrictive."

Two wind energy company representatives argued against several of the options for the proposed wind energy regulations.

Karyn Coppinger, a representative for both the Wyoming Power Producers Coalition and a Laramie-based wind energy company, said 55 dBA would take too many turbines off the market for wind farms in Albany County, which would result in losing tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes.

Therefore, Coppinger said she favors the third option, which would allow for an exemption from the noise regulation if a wind farm's property line borders federal or state land.

"In northern Albany County we're bumping into state lands, federal lands all the time," she told the commissioners.

Coppinger also disagreed with the regulation that says a wind energy company has to control noxious weeds throughout the entire property, not just on the project site and access road.

Coppinger also argued against making wind energy companies pay the financial assurance fee for decommission up front.

Wind energy companies have to pay for permitting, wildlife studies, and other expenses that make it difficult to cover decommissioning costs up front, she said.

Randy Gardner, a project manager for Seattle-based Ridgeline Energy, said paying 100 percent of decommissioning costs up front was problematic.

He said it takes many years for a wind farm to develop, which means there is plenty of time to cover the decommission costs between permitting and construction.

"If we're required to put 100 percent of our decommission up front, we're going to be providing a lot of funds that are going to sit there for a long, long time," he said. "I would prefer if we do something along the lines of when we begin construction. Then, the project is actually sold."

PacifiCorp representative Dave Evans, an attorney for Hickey & Evans of Cheyenne, said the county should leave jurisdiction of particular areas to the appropriate state and federal agencies, like the Department of Environmental Quality and the Public Service Commission.

"We think, generally, an applicant going through a wind farm permitting process should report to the county as to how they're doing with those different agencies," Evans said. "I don't think the county's regulations should take any direct jurisdiction over those issues."