News
Category:
Wisconsin
A $20 million wind farm proposed for Springfield hinges on whether Sun Prairie-based WPPI Energy will buy electricity and eventually acquire the project. ...the developer's asking price already killed a similar proposed deal with Madison Gas & Electric Co. MG&E argued it could buy electricity at about 2.9 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Also filed under [
General]
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) will hold three public hearings next week, including one in Fond du Lac, on proposed uniform wind siting rules.
Also filed under [
General]
The elected officials at three southern Brown County towns will ask the Public Service Commission to take more time to study possible health and safety issues before approving wind turbine siting rules.
Comments from town supervisors and residents in the towns of Morrison, Glenmore and Wrightstown will be delivered to the PSC's Wind Siting Council next week.
Also filed under [
General]
Morrison, Glenmore and Wrightstown officials urge more study of wind farm sites
June 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
June 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
The elected officials of three southern Brown County towns will ask the Public Service Commission to take more time to study possible health and safety issues before approving wind turbine siting rules.
Also filed under [
General]
Deadline pressure and 100 amendments are cracking the unity of the state‘s Wind Siting Council as it strives to agree on turbine placement standards. ...some council members insist they will testify against recommendations not based on a consensus vote.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure|
Energy Policy]
Public hearings are planned next week on a proposal aimed at adopting uniform siting rules for wind power projects in the state.
The public hearings and a rulemaking are part of a process launched by the state Legislature when it passed a uniform siting law last year.
Also filed under [
General]
Jason and Ann Wirtz contended that the Forward Energy Wind Center cost them their alpaca-breeding business and created such significant health problems for the family that they were eventually forced out of their home.
PSC Chairman Eric Callisto said the commission is not the proper forum for personal injury claims.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
Wind turbines pose groundwater, health issues, panel says
June 18, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
June 18, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
The Brown County Board of Health, citing the threat to groundwater contamination as its chief reason, has recommended that no wind turbines be built in the county's southern region where a 100-turbine wind farm has been proposed.
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
Environmental consultants can count the minutes a home is affected by the strobelike flickers of a wind turbine's shadow.
They can measure the decibels of the rhythmic thrum of turbine blades cutting through the air. ...But, wind farm developers argue, basing placement on those tests means sacrificing the one thing the industry needs to build in Wisconsin: certainty.
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Impact on Landscape|
Impact on People]
Cascade turbines running; Village first in state to power plant by wind
June 12, 2010 by Josh Lintereur in Sheboygan Press
June 12, 2010 by Josh Lintereur in Sheboygan Press
This week, a pair of 100-kilowatt wind turbines went into service atop a small hill on Bates Road, north of county Highway F, where the wastewater treatment plant is located. ...The annual savings means the village will recoup the cost to install the turbine in about a dozen years, Harrison said.
Also filed under [
General]
Towns in southern Brown County met Thursday night to talk about wind turbines in Wisconsin and how communities could have a say in the state's wind energy rules.
Community members from the towns of Glenmore, Morrison, and Wrightstown packed a meeting at Wrightstown High School.
Also filed under [
General]
Wind farms that generate more than 100 megawatts are subject to PSC approval, but until the new law passed, local governments had control over turbine placement standards for any projects generating up to 99 megawatts of electricity. ...The council's discussion Wednesday was the first of what could be many debates in determining an appropriate setback distance, Ebert said.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
Billions of dollars of investment during the past decade have created a wind-power corridor that stretches more than 170 miles along the Columbia in Eastern Washington and Oregon, vaulting the Northwest to the leading edge of national efforts to develop this renewable energy source.
But the fickle, roller-coaster nature of generating electricity from the wind is also placing large new strains on efforts to manage the regional power grid.
Also filed under [
California|
Oregon]
Anyone who wants to give input on where wind turbines can and cannot be placed locally will need to tell the state's Public Service Commission within the next six weeks.
The PSC is seeking public comment on its proposed wind siting rules, which were issued earlier this month. The rules will ultimately result in uniform wind siting standards for local units of government in Wisconsin, meaning local control will effectively be eliminated.
Also filed under [
General]
A family seeking payback for health, business and property losses allegedly caused by a wind farm suffered a setback Thursday when the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin rejected the complaint.
PSC Chairman Eric Callisto said the commission is not the proper forum for personal injury claims ...Madison-based attorney Ed Marion, who represents the Wirtzes, said "We're disappointed by the decision but not entirely surprised."
Also filed under [
Impact on People]
Wind turbine foes press Brown County to ask Wisconsin for further studies
May 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
May 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
The citizens group contesting the proposed locations of wind turbines in southern Brown County has asked county officials to take an active role in convincing the state to further study the health and safety impact.
In more than two hours of presentations before a joint meeting of the county's Human Services Committee and Board of Health, group members cited sleep disorders, physical danger and well contamination among their reasons.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape|
Impact on People]
Health risk of wind turbines debated; Opponents say wind farms cause sleep disorders
May 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
May 24, 2010 by Tony Walter in Greenbay Press Gazette
A group of Brown County residents working to stop the wind farm proposed for the southern part of the county cites reports from the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health that suggest wind turbines located too close to homes or schools cause negative health impacts.
"It is my opinion as a physician that the best evidence supports that building large wind energy turbines in close proximity to humans has a negative impact on the health," wrote Dr. Herbert Coussons.
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Noise]
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will hold hearings in June on proposed wind farm siting rules that ultimately will provide uniform statewide standards.
The Legislature created a PSC council to develop the rules. Local political bodies cannot develop regulations that are more restrictive.
Also filed under [
General]
The Columbia County Board of Supervisors offered tepid approval Wednesday to a resolution declaring electricity-generating wind turbines on five parcels of farmland are in keeping with the landowners' farmland preservation agreements with the state.
But the non-unanimous voice vote assent didn't come without questions.
Also filed under [
General]
Manitowoc County Board concerned about wind turbine disruption
May 19, 2010 by Emily Ann Holman in Manitowoc Herald Times
May 19, 2010 by Emily Ann Holman in Manitowoc Herald Times
Wind turbines placed near emergency communication towers could disrupt exchanges, resulting in dropped 911 calls and other problems, supervisor Dave Korinek said Tuesday ...Korinek authored a resolution urging the Wisconsin Wind Siting Council to consider disruptions to emergency communications.
Also filed under [
Safety]
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