Wind turbine plan proposed in county

Two town of Springfield farmers have proposed using their land just west of Highway 12 and north of Middleton to build two wind turbines that could each rise almost 400 feet and be visible from the Capitol about 12 miles away.

The towers would be 70 feet taller than 20 wind turbines near Montfort in Iowa County.

"It's a good way to go," said Tom Helt, who has farmed in the town since 1963 and is working with neighboring farmer Stan Hellenbrand on the project. "The wind is up there and you might as well use it."

A 200-foot tower will be used to gather data to determine if the hilltop site will provide enough wind for the project. The test could take six months, Helt said.

The $6 million to $7 million wind turbine project is being done in cooperation with EcoEnergy, the renewable energy development arm of the Morse Group, one of the largest electrical contractors in the country.

The two turbines would provide energy to Madison Gas and Electric Co. and could go online in 2007, said Weselley Slaymaker of W.E.S. Engineering in Minneapolis, and who is working with Helt and Hellenbrand on the project.

The Springfield Town Board has heard one presentation on the proposal but, along with the county, might not have much to say on the plan. No zoning change is needed, just a building permit issued by the town, said town Chairman Jim Ripp.

He has not yet heard any opposition to the plan but anticipates more discussion as the planning process proceeds.

"Whether it's a quarry or asphalt plant or wind turbine, those are issues people are concerned about," Ripp said. "There'll be more public input on it. I'm sure of it."

Slaymaker said the location offers elevation and is near power lines large enough to carry the power to MGE.

"They need more power than they generate, and adding more power in the area is needed," Slaymaker said.

Dane County Board member Brett Hulsey, a Sierra Club activist, said some people may object to the turbines because of their size, effect on birds or noise. But he thinks wind turbines are good alternatives to traditional power sources.

"It's a good crop for the farmers," Hulsey said. "I'd rather have a wind turbine than a coal plant or nuclear power plant."

One of the most-debated wind turbine projects in the state is near Horicon Marsh. The Public Service Commission approved a plan for the project earlier this year that calls for 133 wind turbines, each 390- feet tall from their base to the tip of their blades.

Opponents there said the turbines will be harmful to the thousands of migratory birds that use the popular freshwater cattail marsh, the largest of its kind in the country.

Karen Etter Hale of the Madison Audubon Society said putting two wind turbines in western Dane County likely won't be as controversial.

"Obviously, birds move on a broad front, but I don't know if that's a specific corridor. But it is a high point," Etter Hale said of the town of Springfield site. "It's not the resource that Horicon is."