RENEW Wisconsin

From an article by Scott De Laruelle in the DeForest Times:

Heeding the concerns of a vocal segment of area residents, the Arlington town board approved an ordinance Wednesday that would effectively keep large wind farms out of the township. The plan commission voted 6-0 Monday to recommend the ordinance to the board.

The vote was unanimous but was not without some debate or concern. Supervisor Tom Klahn said the difference between the 1,000-foot setbacks of wind turbines from residences allowed by the state Public Service Commission and asked for by Wind Capital Group and the 2,640-foot setback in the ordinance was “huge” and would prevent any wind farms in the town. The ordinance also calls for 1,320-foot setbacks from public roads and residences of people “hosting” a wind turbine. . . .

Arlington Plan Commission member Don Plier said the group based its ordinance on “sound science” taken from the town of Union’s ordinance, as well as information such as a Minnesota Department of Health Study that outlined potential health risks.

“There’s more than two-and-half pages of scientific studies, including the World Health Organization,” he said.

Plier said Arlington does not have the time or resources to spend 14 meetings on the subject, as Union did in creating its ordinance.

“We are relying very largely on their research,” he said.

There are companion bills working their way through both houses of the Wisconsin legislature that could take away local control of siting wind farms, a point of emphasis for plan commission members, who wanted to get an ordinance on the books before a state law was established. Clark said town officials were on an “accelerated pace” to adopt the ordinance, something Klahn also took issue with.

“I disagree with the process here,” he said. “The reason we have a plan commission is to research this … the plan commission gives the appearance of setting up roadblocks (for the wind farm project). That’s not due process. (But) I’m going to support the decision of the plan commission.”

The Wind Capital Group has identified Columbia County as a possible site for a wind project.

From an Associated Press article by Elizabeth Dunbar and Todd Richmond in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Wisconsin regulators plan to vote Thursday on a utility’s plans to build a massive wind farm in southern Minnesota.

Wisconsin Power & Light Co., a subsidiary of Madison-based Alliant Energy, wants permission to start the first phase of the farm on 32,500 acres just north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County. Plans call for scores of turbines that would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 50,000 homes.

According to state estimates, the farm could cost nearly $500 million. Alliant officials say the cost is built into their plans to raise electric and natural gas rates by $91.7 million beginning in 2010. That translates to almost $9 more on a typical residential monthly electric bill and $2.40 more on a typical monthly residential gas bill. The farm would account for about $29.6 million of the total increase.

Alliant officials said the farm would help them meet requirements in Wisconsin law that the state get about 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015. Alliant must produce about 9 percent of its energy from renewable sources within the next six years to comply with individual utility requirements.

“This (is) an opportunity to position ourselves for the future,” Alliant spokesman Steve Schultz said.

A story from UPI.com:

DALLAS, July 8 (UPI) — Billionaire U.S. oilman T. Boone Pickens says he is putting aside plans to build the world’s biggest wind turbine farm in the Texas Panhandle.

Jay Rosser, a spokesman for Pickens’s BP Capital Management, said the ambitious, $10 billion effort has been shelved for the time being because of a tight credit market and because electric utilities are opting to build natural gas-fired generators at a time of low gas prices, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

“Boone still remains committed and focused on developing wind energy in the United States
,” Rosser told the newspaper. “The timing is not as aggressive as he originally outlined because of the collapse of the capital markets and because of the steep downturn of natural gas prices.”

Pickens instead will build three or four smaller-scale wind farms costing $2 billion, telling The New York Times in an interview that he is unsure at this point if he will ever be able to revive the giant wind project.

The Times said Pickens had ordered 687 large wind turbines from General Electric (NYSE:GE) to be placed in the Texas wind farm, but now aims to split them up into smaller farms, possibly in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Alberta, Canada.

From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:

Wisconsin Rapids officials are working to create a policy regulating small wind-energy systems but want legislators in Madison to create a statewide law for consistency.

With a planned 350,000-square-foot plant expected to produce large, industrial wind turbine blades, the city currently has no rules regulating smaller, more residential wind mills, Mayor Mary Jo Carson said.

“You’ve got to progress and get it done, so when your constituents have questions, you’re prepared for that,” said Carson, also chairwoman of the city’s Planning Commission.

The city already received at least two requests from residents looking for guidance on erecting wind mills in their yards or on their roofs, she said.

City staff members have forwarded a proposed zoning ordinance to Wisconsin Focus on Energy for guidance but have not yet received a response, said Michael Ostrowski, the city’s planning and economic development director.

At the state level, a similar policy has made it through the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities but still is before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy and Rail.

The bill would grant rule-making authority to the Public Service Commission to develop statewide regulations to govern small wind systems. Local ordinances cannot be more stringent than state regulations.

State Reps. Amy Sue Vruwink, D-Milladore, and Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point, co-sponsored the bill. The effort also has garnered support from various Republican lawmakers, including state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford.

“Our fear is that we pass this and then the state pushes through (a different version),” Carson said. “I really wish the state would get (going) here. We need to move on.”

From an article by Scott Williams in the Milwauke Journal Sentinel:

A Dodge County wind farm might be asked to shut down its rotating turbines during severe weather to avoid disrupting a nearby weather radar system.

National Weather Service officials said they have started discussing such options with owners of the Butler Ridge Wind Farm.

The wind farm’s giant turbines have sent false storm signals to the government radar system in nearby Sullivan, which provides severe weather alerts throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

Tim Crum, a spokesman at the National Radar Operations Center in Norman, Okla., said the wind farm does not present a significant problem for the radar operation about 30 miles away.

However, an agreement to shut down the turbines during inclement weather remains a possibility, Crum said.

“That would be a positive step, if it becomes necessary,” he said.

Butler Ridge, which began operation about six months ago, has 36 turbines that are each about 260 feet tall and 300 feet wide. The operation generates electricity for several surrounding communities.

The National Weather Service in April said the wind farm’s false storm signals could create confusion during real severe weather conditions.

The owner of the wind farm, Babcock & Brown Ltd., later approached weather service officials to discuss the situation and consider possible solutions.

Madison Gas and Electric issued a news release and a video on the Rosiere Wind Farm:

MADISON, Wis. – (Business Wire) Wisconsin’s first large-scale wind farm began producing clean, renewable electric power 10 years ago today in Kewaunee County. The 17-turbine, 11.22-megawatt facility built and owned by Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) is located near Rosiere. Since 1999, the facility has produced over 215,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, enough power to supply 3,000 homes annually.

The facility was built in direct response to MGE customers who wanted to purchase green energy for their homes and businesses. The wind farm’s generating capacity available for green energy sales was sold out in less than four months. Over the last 10 years, MGE has increased its wind energy portfolio by 12 times as strong customer support for renewable energy continues. MGE customers have one of the highest participation rates nationally in green energy programming offered by investor-owned utilities.

“We are grateful to the landowners and communities that support this project,” said Lynn Hobbie, MGE senior vice president. “We also thank the customers who have made our green pricing program so successful.”

“In 10 years, wind generation has completed the transition from boutique energy to a bulk power,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin. “Early commitments to wind power from utilities like MGE helped make that happen and were instrumental to that industry’s subsequent growth and maturation.”

At the time, MGE’s Rosiere facility was the largest wind farm in the Eastern United States. Today the wind farm is one of nine commercial facilities in Wisconsin. Wind-generating capacity in Wisconsin totals nearly 450 megawatts.