The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors is considering how to craft what essentially would be a ban on the expansion of commercial wind energy production in the county.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Mike and Tanya Lamb live in rural Adair County, and there are about 80 turbines near their property. Tanya cited the noise from the structures as an ongoing problem for her family, making it difficult for them to sleep.The shadow flicker from the blades adds to the discomfort. “There is a constant beating, vibrating noise,” she said. “And we can feel the pressure on our ears.”

Impact on People Iowa

Senator Zach Whiting of Spirit Lake, a member of the Iowa Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee, said he has a number of concerns about “the dramatic expansion of eminent domain authority the Utilities Board appears to give itself.” Private property rights and utility development have been a flash point for lawmakers from both parties for years. 

Zoning/Planning Iowa

“I have a number of concerns about these proposed rules from the Iowa Utilities Board,” Whiting said in a statement. “My principal concern is the dramatic expansion of eminent domain authority the IUB appears to give itself. Private property is one of the fundamental aspects of our republic. “Eroding those rights through administrative rule-making conflicts with the founding principles of our state and nation,” Whiting said.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

This email from RPM Access confirms the company's cancellation of the Washburn Wind energy facility. The 35-turbine (70 MW) project to be constructed in Black Hawk County Iowa was first approved in a 3-2 vote of the Board of Adjustment in April 2018. In early 2019, the company secured an extension from the county to delay start of construction until July 1, 2020. A law suit filed by county resident, Harold Youngblut, argued the county ordinance was not followed. The court ruled against Mr. Youngblut which he appealed. RMP Access insisted that the suit hindered its ability to find buyers for the energy.  

Zoning/Planning Iowa

Keynon is trying to get away from the legal position of saying “stop” because he isn’t sure he can take a legal position and defend the county by saying that.  Instead, the board can say it is putting on hold, pausing or slowing this process down. Ultimately, the board adopted the policy to put a hold on any new applications until January 1, 2021. The policy will be implemented August 1. 

Zoning/Planning Iowa

The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors heard some concerns about a new wind turbine project in the works in the northern part of the county and decided to do some further research on the topic before making any decisions. The Worthwhile Wind Energy Center is a proposed wind development in Worth and Winnebago counties on private land, according to a statement by the developer, Invenergy.

Impact on People Noise Iowa

Iowa, a national leader in wind energy, is weighing new rules for siting renewable energy projects — regulations that could shake up a system that's enabled billions of dollars of investment in the state over the past two decades.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

About two-dozen farmers and landowners in western Iowa say MidAmerican Energy is failing to fully pay them for damage caused when building an 81-turbine wind farm in Ida County. It's another point of tension in the relationship between rural residents and the Des Moines company, which has made Iowa a national leader in wind generation, building about 3,000 turbines across the state.​​

General Iowa

The company submitted records to the county showing the agreements have been reached. Levy said the agreements have been executed and the company would e-mail copies of them to the county. In cases where NextEra could not reach agreements with landowners, the company curtailed operations of turbines close to the county residents’ homes so the machines are within the acceptable noise and shadow flicker limits.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

On May 22, 2020, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) opened a rulemaking proceeding that will change 20 years of precedent on siting of wind farms and, for the first time, establish rules aimed directly at siting solar projects and energy storage projects.

General Iowa

I asked Steve Peters if he knew exactly when the blades in the next section south broke. Peters recalled that, "the blade broke during the morning hours of Dec. 30. Nothing looked wrong at that site until before noon. Steve also said he had heard that 32 turbine sites (96 blades) had blades that needed to be repaired or replaced.

Structural Failure Iowa

China’s curious role in support of taxpayer wind energy subsidies in the U.S. is now raising suspicion, as Grassley tries to convince Trump Administration officials that their COVID-19 stimulus measures should include a boost to his beleaguered wind program.

Taxes & Subsidies USA Iowa

Incredible photos have revealed the final resting place of massive wind turbine blades that cannot be recycled, and are instead heaped up in piles in landfills. The municipal landfill in Casper, Wyoming, is the repository of at least 870 discarded blades, and one of the few locations in the country that accepts the massive fiberglass objects.

General Iowa South Dakota Wyoming

The Fremont County Board of Supervisors this week set the public hearing for its May 13th meeting. Deputy County Attorney Tyler Loontjer says the proposed ordinance drew from similar ordinances across the state.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

A back-and-forth discussion with a Juno Beach, FL-based energy company was a main agenda item during the Osceola County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday, April 14. The board wanted to know when NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. which has a wind farm located north of Highway 9 near Harris, would satisfy requirements outlined in a conditional use permit the company was granted in March 2019 for a turbine blade replacement project.

Impact on People Noise Iowa

Sibley Fire Chief Kenny Huls says when they were looking for what may have caused the fire, they noticed some charring on the windmill motor, and with the distance and the wind carrying those sparks, he says it appeared to him that perhaps the wind turbine malfunctioned and shot a spray of sparks out into the field.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

Wind energy is not an agricultural commodity, as hogs, cattle, and grain are. It is not a product that supports rural economic development. It does not revitalize communities. It damages them.

General Iowa

After talking to Cherokee County Auditor Kris Glienke recently to speculate that a significant issue of some sort existed with turbines in the recently commissioned 200 megawatt (MW) Glaciers Edge Wind Project in western Cherokee County, Glienke shockingly reported, “I'm hearing that all the blades might need to be repaired or replaced.”

General Iowa

Rural areas in Iowa are agricultural not industrial. Rural communities should not suffer from noise, shadow flicker, adverse health effects, and devalued homes because of wind turbines. The wind is promoted as free, but the true costs of the wind industry in rural Iowa are not. Is our goal as a state the elimination of rural communities and create a vast industrial scale, corporate ag-industrial mini-state?

Impact on People Iowa