WI GOP proposes legislation to kill wind farms...

[TheMightyFavog]

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/article_...

A special session bill recently proposed by Gov. Scott Walker includes many provisions that could hurt Wisconsin's economy and environment, but one of the most perplexing proposals in this package is a new regulation that would effectively ban wind energy projects in Wisconsin.

The regulatory reform bill proposed by Walker would close Wisconsin's doors to clean, renewable wind power and cost our state thousands of jobs. Our state legislators elected on the promise of real job creation and economic recovery — should reject Walker's bill.

The bill would create regulations that effectively prohibit wind energy developers from constructing a wind turbine within 1,800 feet of the nearest property line. If approved, this law would make siting a wind farm so difficult that no wind developer would even bother trying — especially when Illinois and Iowa are waiting with open arms, having no setback provision at all.

The bill would immediately jeopardize 11 proposed wind projects that are set to create hundreds of jobs and undoubtedly many others in the planning stages.

Wait??? Isn't this supposedly the party of "Get the government off of the backs of business?"

[midnight]

1. K&R Destroying competition for the oil industry....

The elite could never live by the same rules of capitalism they demand the working folks to live by.....

[Rage for Order]

2. That's a misleading headline

"The bill would create regulations that effectively prohibit wind energy developers from constructing a wind turbine within 1,800 feet of the nearest property line."

What's wrong with that? It means you can't have a windmill within about 1/4 mile of the nearest property line. Wind farms are built on huge plots of land, tens or hundreds of acres large. Requiring the windmills to be set back a given distance is not an onerous regulation.

[jeff47]

3. 'cause they're not built on huge plots of land

Often they'll put up a single windmill on a small plot of land.

Wind farms are not all that huge yet.

[Rage for Order]

4. Yes, they are

"Often they'll put up a single windmill on a small plot of land."

Not if they're putting up a wind farm. A single windmill no more makes a wind farm than a single stalk of corn makes a corn farm.

[jeff47]

7. Think bigger

Electric company goes to a farmer in, say, upstate NY and negotiates to put a windmill on his 50-acre farm. The farmer still wants to farm it, so they negotiate for one windmill.

Electric company goes to a neighboring farmer in, say, upstate NY and negotiates to put a windmill on his 60-acre farm. The farmer still wants to farm it, so they negotiate for one windmill.

Do that often enough, and you have a wind farm...and a duplicate of what a lot of power companies did in the northeast. The 1/4 mile restriction would basically prevent this.

[Kaleva]

5. That's the proposed setback distance from homes, not property lines.

"Currently, turbines must be built at least 1,250 feet from nearby homes. Under Walker's plan, they would have to be built at least 1,800 feet away."

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wisconsin/wisconsin-governor-scott-walker-proposes-new-wind-farm-regulations

[Ellipsis]

6. 397' High with a blade diameter of 70 feet.

At 2640 feet, noise from an industrial wind turbine may still be heard from inside your home... 1/4Mile may not be far enough.


A minimum setback of 2640 feet from a home is necessary to mitigate the noise impacts that aren’t predicted by the one-size-fits-all sound models typically used by wind developers. Noise may be amplified by the lay of the land, atmospheric conditions, time of day, temperature inversions, wind layers and other factors. Low frequency noise can travel much further and easily penetrates the walls of a home.

Distance is the only thing which reliably lessens the negative effects of turbine noise. At 2640 feet, noise from an industrial wind turbine may still be heard from inside your home, but will be less of a problem than the noise from a turbine sited 1000 feet from your home. Residents whose homes are less than 2640 feet from large wind turbines have complained of trouble living with the noise they make, especially at night, and suffer from the variety of health effects associated with loss of sleep.

Recent studies show that a setback of 2640 feet will significantly reduce noise annoyance and associated adverse health effects, but even at that setback people may still suffer from problems associated with turbine noise, especially in quiet, rural environments. A setback of 5280 feet has been shown to eliminate most noise complaints. Both Germany and France have a setback of a mile.


http://betterplan.squarespace.com/todays-special/2008/12/11/121208-part-3-of-our-look-at-the-history-and-content-of-the.html



I would like to see the specifics of the bill. There are many smaller turbines out on the market and I 'd be curious to see if there are restrictions on those.


But I'll wager dollars to doughnuts the restrictions are more favorable then not for major power companies like WE Energies.

http://www.wisconsinenergy.com/aboutus/board_directors.htm