Wind farm bills survive public lashing
Michael Vickerman (left), RENEW Wisconsin’s executive director, listens to Curt Pawlisch, repesenting Wind for Wisconsin, during their testimony on May 12 in support of identical companion bills (Senate Bill 185 and Assembly Bill 256) to begin a process to create state-wide standards for wind siting in Wisconsin. Brian Rude of Dairyland Power looks on from the background.
From an article by Paul Snyder in The Daily Reporter:
More than eight hours of public testimony mostly opposed to state guidelines for wind farm placement did little to kill bills that would limit local control of the energy developments.
“It just underscores the reason why we need the bill,” said state Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee. “These are the discussions that need to be happening, and they won’t happen unless there is a forum.”
But several residents of towns and counties that either host wind farms or are considering wind farm proposals said the discussion needs to stop.
“Everything I’ve heard from (wind farm supporters) has been about jobs and money,” said Don Mitchell, who lives in the town of Magnolia, which recently passed a wind farm ordinance. “There’s been nothing about health. We need to stop what we’re doing until we know what we’re doing.”
Identical state Senate and Assembly bills — steered, respectively, by Plale and state Rep. James Soletski, D-Green Bay — received a joint public hearing Tuesday with construction industry representatives and environmental advocates supporting statewide wind farm standards and many residents questioning the bills.
The bills would not create the standards or determine where in Wisconsin wind farms should be built, but the legislation would let the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin draft a set of statewide standards for legislative review.
The argument for the bill is that town and county ordinances vary greatly and deter wind developers from building farms to Wisconsin because there are too many hurdles.
Several wind farm developers spoke Tuesday about the state’s difficult reputation and a general disinterest to work in Wisconsin without uniform standards. . . . But Plale said the bills are just a start.
“We’re not creating an answer,” he said. “We’re creating a mechanism for this discussion to take place.”
