"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

Alliant Energy is proposing a 25 percent increase on the base rate line item on customer’s energy bills over two years. ...Alliant Energy said the rate increase will help the company make investments in wind energy.

General Iowa

Converting agricultural and wildlife areas to the use of industrial wind turbines irreversibly destroys it. It is a debt of destruction. The construction of industrial wind turbines affects aquifers, water flow, tile lines, soil erosion, soil compaction, air pressure and current. In essence, it is destruction of the best soil in the world, the farmland that the generations before us were proud of and left for us to feed the world with.

General Iowa

Today, a reading in Madison County will help decide whether wind and solar energy projects will be delayed.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa – One worker was killed and another critically injured Saturday in an accident at a wind tower manufacturing plant in Newton.

Safety Injury Iowa

A College-owned fifty-kilowatt wind turbine at the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA) sustained a direct lightning strike and is currently inoperable. One of the three blades shattered, and Facilities Management (FM) found the pieces on the ground. The damage occurred on the night of September 8.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

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