Winds of Change

Winds of Change

Jun 16 - La Crosse Tribune

Western Wisconsin may never be a wind energy mecca like southwest Minnesota, northwest Iowa or the Dakotas. But that doesnt mean windmills won't someday dot our skyline.

Wind developers - some local, some not - are exploring several projects in the region. So far, there are no done deals, but some developers hope to be building as soon as 2008.

In addition to replacing carbongenerated electricity with cleaner, renewable energy, there's money to be made from wind energy for utilities, governments and local land owners.

But not everyone is embracing the idea of 300-foot wind towers - especially if it's in their backyards. Opponents have raised concerns about the health, safety, wildlife impact and aesthetics. And they're putting pressure on local governments to impose strict controls on wind development.

The battle has been strongest in Monroe County, where Chicago- based Invenergy LLC is proposing several dozen towers in a 50- to 75-megawatt wind farm, known as Summit Ridge Wind Energy. In April, voters in the town of Ridgeville unseated two of the three town board, members, including the town chairman.

"It's been highly contested in some of the towns," said Monroe County Zoning Administrator Alison Phillips. "That's really kind of too bad, because neighbors are not talking to neighbors, and, no matter what happens, probably never will again."

Wind farms generate electricity by using the wind to turn giant blades that rotate turbines to make power. The blades have diameters ranging from 230 feet to 295 feet and are mounted on towers 197 feet to 295 feet tall.

Growing from almost nothing in 1980, wind-powered turbines generated 11,605 megawatts of electricity in the U.S., in 2006, though that was still less than 1 percent of the national power supply.

Wind farms now operate in 36 states. A National Research Council panel report says estimates are that wind farms could generate 2 percent to 7 percent of the nation's electricity within 15 years. "There is a great diversity of opinion on how much there is going to be a ramping up of wind energy," said report coauthor Mary English of the University of Tennessee.

By reducing the need to generate electricity by burning fossil fuels, the turbines have been welcomed as a boon to the environment. Others worry about the danger to birds and bats, impacts on wildlife habitat and what some see as a blight on the scenery.

David Eggen, chairman of the town of Christiana in Vernon County, said opposition at the local level sometimes can be driven by something wind developers call "tower envy."

"One landowner gets a wind tower with a $4,000- to $5,000-a-year rental, agreement and the other neighbor, they just get to look at it," Eggen said.

But Jim Naleid of La Crosse, whose AgWind Energy Partners is pursuing wind development in Buffalo and Trempealeau counties, said neighbors can share in the wealth.

"Developers are creating good neighbor funds," Naleid said. "Give every neighbor within a half-mile $500 - a year - a good neighbor reward."

For governments, the reward can be much bigger.

Once a wind developer exceeds production of 50 megawatts of power, local governments start collecting annual taxes of $4,000 per megawatt, he said. On a 100-megawatt project, that's $400,000 a year for the counties and towns.

But lots of homework must be done, developers said, before everyone starts counting their money.

Standing outside, the wind in your face may feel like enough to power a wind turbine. But developers typically need 12 to 18 months' worth of wind data from a special meteorological tower.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there's only a 1 mph difference in the average annual wind speed between more desirable Class 4 wind areas, such as southwest Minnesota, which has 13 mph winds, and Class 3 areas, which include parts of western Wisconsin, where the wind blows 12 mph.

WIND POWER Q & A

Because wind power is new to the region, people have many questions about its potential effects. Some of the most common questions and answers about wind turbines include:

Q; Do they kill birds?

A: Wind power opponents frequently raise bird mortality as an argument against the towers. The turbines can have an effect on birds and bats, Vicky Hirschboeck of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said at a recent public hearing in Trempealeau County. The towers appear most dangerous to night-migrating songbirds, bats and some hunting birds such as hawks and eagles, a National Research Council panel said last week in a study requested by Congress, but the risk is not understood enough to draw conclusions. La Vern Clifton, a retired farmer and landowner who has three turbines on his property near Montfort, Wis., since 2001, said he has not seen any bird deaths. And according to a 2002 study, for every 10,000 birds killed by human activities, less than one of those deaths is caused by a wind turbine.

Q: Are wind turbines loud?

A: Modern wind turbines put out about 45 decibels. By comparison, a lawnmower registers 90 decibels, truck traffic 80 decibels and normal conversation 60 decibels. According to the American Wind Energy Association, "in some hilly terrain where residences are located in sheltered dips or hollows downwind from turbines, turbine sounds may carry further and be more audible."

Q: Will the shadows from the blades bother people?

A: There is a phenomenon known as "shadow flicker" that happens when the rotating blades move between the sun and the viewer, causing a moving shadow. The American Wind Energy Association says shadow flicker can be annoying but generally is short-lived and avoidable if towers are properly sited.