Growing interest in wind power has prompted Des Moines-area leaders to consider a uniform ordinance to provide consistent regulation of small-scale wind energy turbines in residential areas.

Rules currently vary among Iowa cities on whether residents can add wind turbines on their properties. Some cities have banned turbines, while others regulate their size. Others do not allow turbines on small lots, but do on larger parcels.

Members of the Metro Advisory Council, a group of elected officials, recently decided to examine how best to handle wind power projects.

In Des Moines, officials caution against tree removals so turbines can be erected. Aesthetics is also a concern.

"Alternative energy is great, but if it means you're cutting down trees to allow more wind power, it would be up to the City Council to decide if that's the objective they want to achieve," said Michael Ludwig, planning administrator for the city of Des Moines.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, an environmental advocate, believes officials should craft sensible rules for wind energy.

"The question becomes, 'How do we do it right?' " he said. "We need to decide what's acceptable so it doesn't become unsightly."

Altoona, Johnston and West Des Moines have wind power ordinances. Regulations are being debated in Clive and Waukee.

Clive City Council members are considering a three- to six-month moratorium on the construction of wind turbines while consistent rules for the metro area are studied.

The national market for small, residential wind turbines grew by 78 percent in 2008, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Inquiries about wind energy in 2008 ranked among the top three requests for information fielded by the American Planning Association, a nonprofit organization that represents urban planners and community development leaders across the United States.

Such requests were not even in the top 30 just two years earlier.

While renewable energy makes up a small percentage of electricity generated today, wind and solar power are the fastest-growing sectors in the country. The United States became the world's leading wind power provider in 2008; Iowa ranks second nationally among the 50 states.

The vast majority of wind power is generated in expansive rural areas of Iowa. The adage "more tower, more power" is much harder to replicate in urban settings, especially in densely populated cities with mature trees like Des Moines has.

Debates such as the ones under way in central Iowa are taking place elsewhere in the country, too. Officials in several southwestern Minnesota counties have created a model ordinance to help guide other counties in the state.

The rules for wind energy production vary depending on the zoning district in Des Moines. A special permit was issued to install a 133-foot-tall wind tower at the Iowa State Fair in 2007.

South Des Moines resident Joe Yeager this year followed height regulations in his neighborhood to mount a small turbine - the first of its kind in the city - on the roof of his house.

"We wanted to do something that would help knock down our electric bill and make us as energy efficient as possible," Yeager said.

"Energy costs are going to keep going up, and I think the writing is on the wall that this is the way individuals will have to go."

The state's most populous cities are at various stages of dealing with residential wind turbines.

Several cities have nothing on the books directly addressing wind energy. Davenport and Iowa City allow wind turbines under other city ordinances, but they can be so restrictive that wind turbines become unrealistic.

"It's like any new technology - it takes a while for the ordinances to catch up with it," Iowa City code enforcement officer Jann Ream said.

In Dubuque, for example, a wind turbine would be treated as an "accessory use" that could be no more than 15 feet high, and the rotor blades would have to be at least 8 feet off the ground.

"Needless to say, we don't have any in a residential district," associate planner Kyle Kritz said. "But with the new ordinance, that'll be quite a bit different."

Dubuque officials are considering allowing wind turbines as high as 80 feet as long as they are approved by the zoning board of adjustment. That way, Kritz said, neighbors would have a chance to voice concerns.

Cedar Falls ordinances are silent on wind turbines, though city officials are beginning to draft an ordinance. But the city-owned utility already encourages turbines by offering residents loans of as much as $4,000 to buy them. At least two utility customers have put up wind turbines.

Cedar Falls Utilities marketing manager Betty Zeman said all customers will benefit if the utilities can help people generate their own power. She said the utilities will not have to expand as much or as quickly if they can help curb the amount of new energy needed.

"It's both good economics and environmental stewardship," she said.

Residential wind turbines are banned in Council Bluffs following a recent vote by the City Council.

"We're really not opposed to wind energy," Councilwoman Lynne Branigan said. "We're just saying we don't want big old wind apparatuses in residential neighborhoods."

She said council members based their decision in part on the fact that Council Bluffs is in a less windy part of the state, as well as the height and potential noise of wind turbines. She said she has received few complaints about the move, and she stressed that the city is green in other ways.

Council Bluffs resident Ron Koontz, 50, said the council acted prudently to not get caught up in the hype of an emerging technology.

"If we could find it's viable, shoot, yeah, I'm all for it," he said. "If the upside outweighs the downside, sure - but let's make sure we know the downside."

Adam Baumberger installed a 65-foot wind tower and generator at his three-acre Douglas Township property in rural Polk County. The turbine provides about 8 percent of his house's electricity.

"It does what we'd hoped for and beyond," he said. "I wish I had a bigger one."

Baumberger's system, coupled with increased interest generated by the turbine at the State Fair, prompted Polk County officials this year to amend its wind ordinance, originally enacted in 1987.

"We recognized there was a need to update the ordinance to accommodate some of the new, individual-size wind systems people want to put on their properties," said Bret VandeLune, Polk County's land use planning manager.