The current ordinance requires there to be 1500 feet between a wind turbine and any home on neighboring property. Supervisor Jon Herzberg said increasing the setback much more would effectively end wind energy possibilities in the county. “A 1600-feet setback is about the most you can go, otherwise the wind energy company won’t come in,” he said.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Iowa's largest farm group is calling for statewide regulations that guide where large-scale wind and solar farms can be built, as members raise concerns about the loss of valuable farmland to renewable energy projects.

General Iowa

Changes could be coming to Page County's wind turbine ordinance. The Page County Board of Supervisors are scheduled to consider an amendment to the county's wind energy conversion system ordinance at its regular meeting Tuesday morning at the county courthouse.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

CLARINDA — Some of what is known about wind turbines in Page County is on paper.

General Iowa

My advice: Do not sign an easement that would affect the legacy of your land and never sign anything without an attorney present. Many Iowa attorneys are held on retainer by an energy company; be sure yours is not. Easement law is not common knowledge in Iowa as it is in the West, where landowners have dealt with water or mineral rights for generations. Get an attorney who understands easement law.

Legal Iowa

Leaders in southwest Iowa’s Page County held two public hearings this week to gather residents’ comments on wind power, whether to allow more wind turbines to be built or to enact tighter regulations on the turbines.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

"Our intent in having an ordinance is to protect people," said Morris. "I'm proud of that fact. Is it perfect? No, that's why we're debating here. How do we make this ordinance work best for everybody? It's a tough issue. You have land rights that are important, whether that's with a windmill or without a windmill."

Zoning/Planning Iowa

 Meaningful input from county Boards of Health are discounted. Meanwhile, turbines are put up, people suffer physically and mentally – often insidiously – and living quality is permanently and negatively impacted. We should at least have guidelines that reflect the most current understanding of adverse health effects and, as such, will require much larger separations (certainly greater than 1500 or 2500 feet) of turbine placement from adjoining private property depending on the power generating capacity of the proposed turbine.

General Iowa

Hardin County supervisors unanimously passed an indefinite moratorium on wind turbine building permits at its meeting Wednesday.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

The amendment caps the number of commercial wind turbines or wind farms erected within the boundaries of Adair County at a total of no more than 535. Adair County currently has 532 turbines completed or under construction. This comes after neighboring Union County earlier this year passed its ordinance allowing the construction of wind farms to start within the county.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

"This clean, green energy is not so clean and not so green," says Julie Kuntz, who opposes a Worth County wind project. "It's just more waste going in our landfills." Daniel Laird, a U.S. Department of Energy researcher, acknowledges that disposing of the blades is a challenge. Wind energy generation, now topping 100 gigawatts nationally, will create 1 million tons of fiberglass and other composite waste, said Laird, director of the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.

General Iowa

These monsters are 494 feet tall from base to the tip of the blade; the blades are close to 200 feet long. When you have a very large structure, moving and spinning at over 200 mph, vibrating the air, then compound it with multiple structures, all of the same size and speed, there will be noise – and lots of it. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it. It doesn’t take any type of degree, or a ton of common sense, to understand this concept. They do indeed sound like jets that won’t land. It goes on all day, almost every day. We pray for days without wind. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

Impact on People Noise Shadow Flicker Iowa

Page County is the latest to deal with the controversy involving wind turbines in the state. By unanimous vote Tuesday morning, the county's board of supervisors approved an ordinance designed to--quote--"promote the public health, safety, comfort and general welfare" regarding turbines.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Technologies exist that can be built into the turbine. Although they are used in Canada, Denmark and Sweden, Hu said the U.S. wind industry has found them to be cost-prohibitive.... blades can incorporate a material that conducts electricity that can prevent icing by warming the blade. He said the cost for the power amounts to roughly 5% of the energy a turbine might typically produce.

Technology Icing USA Iowa

For the first time in Iowa, a county has enacted a moratorium on installing new wind turbines.

General Iowa

To date, the county has spent $22,725 on lawyers for work related to the Expedition Wind project since National Renewable Solutions purchased the project from an earlier developer. The county spent $2,973 on legal expenses with the earlier developer. County clerk Tina Spencer said Expedition has reimbursed the county $16,600 of those expenses.

Legal Iowa

Renewable energy remains a polarizing issue. Political and customer pressure has power companies moving renewables to the “front burner.” ...However, the harvest has ranged from “good times” to “buyer’s remorse.” 

General Iowa

After a lengthy debate over wind turbines in an Iowa county, the Board of Supervisors voted to temporarily halt new wind and solar projects for the next year.

Impact on People Noise Iowa

Renewable energy in Iowa hit new headwinds Tuesday as Madison County supervisors passed the state's first moratorium on new wind turbine installations and Adair County leaders said they were considering capping the number of turbines in their county, effectively stopping new construction. Madison County supervisors voted 2-1 to approve their moratorium, which also applies to new solar energy installations. 

Zoning/Planning Iowa

DES MOINES — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a habitat conservation plan proposed by MidAmerican Energy as the best solution to help preserve certain bat and eagle species at company wind farms.

Impact on Birds Impact on Bats USA Iowa