The Madison County Board of Supervisors has scaled back the duration of its proposed moratorium on new wind turbines. The board voted to end the moratorium on October 1st of next year, rather than on January 1, 2022.

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Iowa

On Tuesday, the Madison County Board of Supervisors heard public comment as they look into a moratorium on certain renewable energy construction. The moratorium the Madison County Board of Supervisors is considering would stop construction of all wind turbines and commercial solar energy systems in Madison County until January 1 2022, excluding projects approved before January 1 of this year.

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Iowa

Winterset resident Alan Lange told the board he supports clean energy systems like wind farms, but he thinks the county needs more time to study their effects. "I do think that it’s time to take a step back and consider the concerns that the community has brought forth. I don’t feel that we are in a rush to develop our countryside into clean energy," Lange said.

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Iowa

County supervisor Phil Clifton, who announced that he has terminated his easement with MidAmerican Energy to place a wind turbine on property he owns, suggested a four- to six-month moratorium. Supervisor Diane Fitch indicated she could be cajoled into a moratorium of perhaps 18 months, while Chairman Aaron Price said he would like to see more than six months, but not 18 months or two years. In the end, officials agreed to impose a moratorium until Oct. 1, 2020. 

General Iowa

Reynolds said permits for wind turbine towers are issued by local, not state officials. “This is something that local governments will be deciding,” Reynolds said. “They’re the ones that grant them and can make the decision not to.”

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Iowa

Kevin de Regnier, a Winterset doctor and health board chairman, said Tuesday that a board member referred to the wrong study in making the recommendation. But it was understandable after reading "hundreds of pages" of reports over about eight months. "The board took this very seriously," de Regnier said. "It was done with great study, significant public input and scientific study.

Impact on People Zoning/Planning Iowa

The Iowa County Board of Supervisors voted down a new ordinance that would regulate wind energy. This comes after months of debate over constructing wind turbines in the county. ...After being voted down, the board will now have to rewrite those regulations. Representatives from MidAmerican and Invenergy offered a warning if the ordinance proves restrictive.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

"Resolved that the Madison County Board of Health determines that there is the potential for negative health affects associated with commercial wind turbines and that current setbacks are inadequate to protect the public health," said Madison County Public Health in a statement to Channel 13.

Impact on People Iowa

"There is not sufficient evidence of record for this Commission to definitively conclude that the Cardinal-Hickory Creek (CHC) transmission line project is the highest priority energy option that is also cost effective and technically feasible as required by Wisconsin law," Wellinghoff, now the CEO of Grid Policy, Inc., a distributed energy consulting group, wrote in his testimony to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. 

Transmission Iowa Wisconsin

According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, an ambulance was requested at a construction site near Lakota around 2:20 p.m. Wednesday. When law enforcement and medical personnel arrived, 51-year-old Lee Gruver of Daisetta, Texas was found dead at the scene.

Safety Injury Iowa

Harold Youngblut filed an appeal Thursday challenging District Court Judge Kellyann Lekar’s April 29 ruling in favor of Washburn Wind Energy’s 35-turbine wind farm. The notice filed by Youngblut’s attorney, John Holmes, claims the district court erred when it failed to allow Youngblut and others to testify the turbine locations are currently used for agricultural purposes as defined in the county zoning ordinance.

Legal Iowa

The survey found that about 72 percent of respondents were favorable to wind projects, yet about 66 percent of rural residents said they were unlikely to want to host a wind farm on their property. Primary concerns included the visual impact, noise associated with turbines and shadow flicker — when rotating blades cast intermittent shadows — or ice throw.

General Iowa

The Iowa Judicial Building.

Legal Iowa

WATERLOO — A local farmer has lost his legal challenge against a planned wind energy project in southern Black Hawk County.

Legal Iowa

The mutually agreed upon resolution means TPI has committed to abating many of the alleged safety violations in its plant. ...TPI still faces litigation in Iowa's civil court system. Six former employees have sued the company for gross negligence, breach of contract and fraud, accusing the company of instituting a "systematic practice of hiring healthy employees and then terminating them from employment after their employees sustained a chemical injury."

Safety Iowa

The fire destroyed the nacelle, which houses the main components of the turbine, as well as parts of the blades and tower. Strong winds also carried some debris out into nearby fields.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

This is a power plant on fire! It’s a big deal and not a rare occurrence as the industry has claimed. The white stationary objects on the ground are the fire trucks.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

MidAmerican has received billions of dollars in federal tax credits to build its wind farms. With those incentives being phased out, MidAmerican and other utilities are now challenging the special perks that solar receives. The federal tax credits covering solar installation costs will decline in the coming years, ending for residential in 2022 and sticking at 10% for commercial projects.  

Impact on People Iowa

Utilities in several states are attempting to run a con game on their respective states’ utility commissions and ratepayers. How? By claiming that their plans for prematurely shuttering existing, reliable, relatively inexpensive coal power plants and replacing them with expensive, intermittent renewable power sources will save ratepayers money “in the long run.” Meanwhile, they ask for an immediate increase in electric rates to pay for the transition.

Impact on Economy USA Indiana Iowa

Information that will be shelved by the mainstream Democrat liberal media is that in rural Iowa where the wind sweeps across the prairie three massive 450-foot high wind turbines are being torn down because their constant noise disrupted the townspeople.

General Iowa North Carolina