The proposed Salt Creek Wind Farm project in Tama County made significant steps toward becoming a reality recently.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People Iowa

The Delaware County Board of Supervisors recently denied a request from Con Edison for variances on a proposed wind turbine project. The project calls for three wind turbines along driveways from 230th Street in Prairie Township. The turbines would be connected with an underground collection line that follows east along 230th Street to 167th Avenue.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

With the year 2020 coming to a close, KMA News presents "Project 2020," a series of reports looking back at the top local and regional news stories of the past year. Today's segment features a look at the issue of wind turbines in Page County.

Zoning/Planning Iowa

The Madison County Board of Supervisors in Iowa approved a new county wind ordinance on December 22, 2020. Specifics of the ordinance are provided below. The full ordinance can be downloaded from the document links on this page. 

Zoning/Planning Ordinances Iowa

This important report written by a cardiologist provides a critically important, fact-based review of what he's learned and witnessed regarding the impacts of industrial wind turbines on human health. The executive summary and purpose of the report are provided below. The full report can be downloaded from this page. Windaction wishes to extend its special thanks to Dr. Johnson for taking the time to prepare this report.

Impact on People Noise Iowa

Shenandoah -- It's no stretch to say the future of wind energy production in Page County is at stake in Tuesday's general elections.

Impact on People Iowa

MidAmerican Energy, has idled more than 40 wind turbines at Iowa wind farms after a 50 metre-long turbine blade broke off and fell into a field last week. ...“The turbine that had the blade failure last week is the same type of turbine that had a blade failure last month in Adair Countym” he said. “They also had the same type of lightning system in them that channels lightning from a strike near a wind turbine blade down into the ground safely.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

MidAmerican Energy says it has idled nearly four-dozen electricity-generating wind turbines while workers check them for safety after blades broke off of two similar turbines over the past two months. Those blade failures follow a break earlier this year and one in 2019.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

When you count the cost of losing our peace in our homes, loss of property values, harm to our wildlife, harm to the land and agricultural businesses, the price of decommissioning the turbines once they are outdated and need to be torn down, and the loss of community relationships — you realize that the total cost of wind turbines has been and will continue to be staggering.

General Iowa

Adair County farmer Curt Beane said the blade crushed the corn below, but nobody was injured. “I work in the field that it came down, and I do have true safety concern,” Beane said. Beane said he does not own the land that the blade fell onto, but he does farm it.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

MidAmerican's Arbor Hill wind energy facility suffered a failure when a portion of a 177-foot long blade broke off the turbine and was flung onto another farmer's property. A similar blade break occurred at a month later at the Beaver Creek wind farm, also owned and operated by MidAmerican. Both the Arbor Hill and Beaver Creek facilities have Vestas V110 2.0 MW turbines installed.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

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

Why, then, spend public dollars on FBI role-playing? Because the energy industry wanted it. The exercise came “at the request of an USBUS private energy sector partner, following 14 environmental extremist attacks against transportation infrastructure in Iowa that services the energy sector, particularly oil pipelines,” said one of the documents about the exercise. Privately owned and operated companies and industry groups — none of which were named in the reports — were intimately involved in the exercise: An Iowa utility company and a wind energy lobbyist group provided information to help judge the fake attack plans and assess the fake “threat environment,” and an industry representative joined two of the teams, posing as an insider accomplice.

General USA 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