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

"You get up every day. You go to work with it every day. I mean the silence is gone, and it's forever gone. Yeah, it's gone," said Tanya and Mike Lamb, of Greenfield. The Lambs live 500 feet down from a wind turbine and can't forget the seven surrounding their property. "It's so loud and it hurts my ears that I mean we can't sit outside," Tanya Lamb said.

Impact on People Noise Iowa

Dr. Ben Johnson believes there are true, real health affects related to industrial wind turbines. Johnson not only has a medical professional perspective, but he's also a landowner near wind projects in Madison County. As a physician, he says he's seen rhythm disorders, which are often associated with sleep disorders. 

Impact on People Iowa

Frustrated Madison County residents are calling for county supervisors to stop wind turbines from being built across their countryside. ..."The problem is nobody knows that it's coming in until it gets there," Madison County resident Brett Terharr said.

Impact on People Iowa

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