by jboullion | May 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
Wisconsin State Journal, May 16, 2009
An eight-hour public hearing last week at the Capitol highlighted a threat to the statewide interest in developing wind power.
The hearing also demonstrated why lawmakers should quell that threat by replacing a hodgepodge of local rules for smaller wind farms with uniform state standards.
At stake is not only a clean, renewable source of energy, but also the state’s economic vitality.
Wisconsin is counting on wind power to propel the state 90 percent of the way toward meeting a goal of more than doubling the renewable energy contribution to electric needs over the next six years. Developing wind power, and other forms of renewable energy, can help resolve global warming worries, improve energy security and generate jobs.
But a barrier looms: When developers of smaller wind farms apply to local governments to build turbines on specific sites, they too often find that local officials are cowed into imposing impossible-to-meet requirements, or even moratoriums, after opponents raise alarming concerns, commonly based in misinformation.
As a result, a few people gain veto power over the state’s energy policy.
Granted, not every location is suitable for wind farms. Local concerns about public safety and health should be respected, when based on sound science. But local officials confronted by alarmed constituents are not in a good position to evaluate competing arguments.
Meanwhile, larger wind farms face no such array of local Mixmasters. They go to one agency — the state Public Service Commission. Wind farm plans face a rigorous PSC review process. But at least developers know what they are dealing with from the outset. It’s a far better system, both for encouraging wind farm development and protecting public safety and health.
Wisconsin’s hostile regulatory environment for smaller wind farms is taking a toll. The state lags far behind neighboring Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois in wind power. Part of the reason is that Wisconsin has less potential for wind power than those states. But testimony at last week’s hearing indicated that regulatory hostility is also a factor, driving some wind farms away from Wisconsin to its neighbors.
That conclusion is supported by the fact that Michigan, with a relatively small potential for wind power, has a far higher wind farm growth rate than Wisconsin.
The solution lies in the proposed legislation that was the subject of last week’s hearing. The plan calls for lawmakers to grant the PSC authority to establish, with public input, a model set of wind farm standards to guide local governments.
Local governments would be forbidden from exceeding the standards.
Any party would have a right to appeal a local decision to the PSC and then to court.
Wisconsin can protect the health and safety of residents and encourage wind farm development. The proposed wind farm siting reform is the answer.
by jboullion | Apr 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, April 19, 2009
Windmills were once a frequent sight in the Wisconsin countryside, pumping water on countless family farms before the use of electricity became widespread.
Now, windmills could again become common as the state tries to meet its goal of generating 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015. In the coming weeks, the state Legislature will have a chance to make it easier for clean-energy creating wind turbines to proliferate in Wisconsin.
These windmills are larger and more powerful than their ancestors. For example, turbines at a wind farm in Fond du Lac County reach nearly 400 feet in the air (counting their blades) and can generate up to 1.65 megawatts of power. (One megawatt is enough for 800 to 1,000 homes.)
Last year’s spike in the price of dwindling fossil fuels should be enough reason for our society to begin shifting to cleaner, more renewable sources. Add to that the growing evidence of global climate change caused by excessive amounts of carbon dioxide released by the burning of those fossil fuels, and the need for renewable energy becomes even more critical.
Today, Wisconsin gets just 3 percent of its energy from renewable sources (mostly wind), far below the 10 percent target looming in six years. Ryan Schryver, a clean energy advocate for Clean Wisconsin, a statewide environmental group, says an additional 600 megawatts of wind power are ensnared in red tape. The state isn’t to blame, however; instead, some local governments have adopted ordinances that restrict the development of wind power. Among them is the Trempealeau County Board, which voted in 2007 that wind turbines taller than 150 feet must be one mile or more from residences, schools, hospitals or businesses. The ordinance essentially prohibits wind power in the county.
Clean Wisconsin is part of a coalition of dozens of groups – including environmentalists, labor unions, utilities such as Xcel Energy, and business representatives such as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce – that supports a soon-to-be-introduced bill that would require the state Public Service Commission to create statewide standards for wind projects. Under current law, local governments can block these projects for health or safety reasons – but those reasons aren’t well-defined, which has led to blanket restrictions such as the one in Trempealeau County.
Critics likely will charge that the bill is an attack on local control. However, it still lets local governments make wind-siting decisions, and allows those who disagree with them to appeal to the PSC and the courts.
It’s understandable that potential neighbors of any large project – including a wind farm – would be concerned about how it might impact their lives. However, the hum of a windmill or the flickering shadows it may create seem greatly preferable to the sulphurous fumes of a coal-fired plant or the potential deadly contamination of a nuclear reactor. Unless we redouble our efforts to pursue clean energy, those may be our only other options to keep the lights on.
– Tom Giffey, editorial page editor
by jboullion | Apr 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
Sheboygan Press, April 17, 2009
Wisconsin should move ahead with uniform rules and regulations for siting power-generating wind turbines that could be applied statewide.
State Sen. Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee is circulating a bill to that effect in hopes of getting bipartisan support before it is introduced in the Legislature. A similar plan was proposed late in the last legislative session and was wisely shelved because there wasn’t enough time to fully explore the idea and hold public hearings.
Since this measure will take away some local control that planning and zoning rules would cover, input from local government officials, as well as the public, is critical to coming up with a workable plan.
Current state law gives the Public Service Commission the responsibility for review and approval of large wind power proposals, but smaller projects are left for local governments to decide.
Wind power is not a passing fad. It has to be a part of the solution to weaning the U.S. from fossil fuels. Until the recession hit, wind power generation was among the fastest growing industries in the nation. And, Wisconsin has chosen to be a leader, not a follower in the use of renewable sources of energy. By 2015, the goal is to have 20 percent of the electricity produced in the state come from sources other than coal- or gas-fired power plants.
It would still be best for wind turbine siting decisions to remain solely with local governments.
Neighboring Fond du Lac County is an example where it can work. Leaders in several towns have done a good job of balancing the concerns of neighboring residents with the need for renewable sources of energy in developing regulations on setbacks and noise.
But it is quite apparent that the desire to come up with reasonable rules is not universal. Some towns have written siting rules in such a way to ban wind turbine projects entirely.
There is time to conduct hearings and gather information, and a uniform set of rules on wind turbines will help Wisconsin reach a cleaner energy future sooner, rather than later.
by jboullion | Apr 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
The Tomah Journal, April 3, 2009
One of these days, the world will no longer have access to fossil fuels. Oil and coal are finite resources, and while they might last well into the 22nd, 23rd or 24th centuries, they will be depleted at some time in our history. And long before they run out, they will become more difficult and expensive to extract. Remember the oil that John McCain wants to get from the Atlantic Coast? Drilling there can’t be sustained until oil hits $60 per barrel and stays there, which translates into at least $2.50 for a gallon of gas.
Renewable energy must replace fossil fuels sometime, and the process may as well start now. Part of the solution is wind energy. Unfortunately, it has proven to be a contentious issue in Wisconsin. It’s almost impossible for a private-property owner to put a wind turbine on his or her property without the threat of a lawsuit. Wind projects in the Monroe County townships of Ridgeville and Wilton have been halted by ordinances that, in effect, outlaw wind-generated power.
Wind power won’t reach its full potential until the state establishes uniform standards for siting wind turbines. Obviously, health and safety concerns must be considered in any legislation. Opponents have legitimate concerns over noise, flicker and ice buildup. However, it’s an unavoidable reality that that energy generation must occur somewhere. Would wind-turbine opponents like an oil refinery in the township? How about a coal-fired power plant? A nuclear power plant? Even solar power creates controversy. A solar developer in California is stymied because he can’t get powerlines built across the desert.
While wind can’t come close to filling our energy needs, it certainly has a role to play in a diversified, renewable energy network. Somehow, we must resolve the tension between a public that wants all the conveniences of modern life but doesn’t want to live anywhere near a facility that makes those conveniences possible. An honest debate over statewide standards for wind turbines would be a good start.
by jboullion | Mar 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
Wisconsin State Journal, March 18, 2009
Wisconsin Power & Light’s plans to look more toward the wind as a power source should underscore for lawmakers the need to support wind farm development.
Wisconsin cannot afford to let the statewide interest in harnessing clean, renewable power from the wind be frustrated by local “not in my backyard” campaigns against wind farms.
The goal should be to adopt statewide standards for siting wind farms that limit local government regulation and provide developers with an opportunity to appeal. The standards should also preserve local authority to restrict or reject wind farms when warranted.
Interest in wind power is growing following state regulators’ rejection last year of a new coal-fired power plant proposed by WPL, As an alternative to coal, the utility planning to develop more wind, biomass and natural gas power sources.
Other power companies are following a similar strategy.
Wind is the key element, projected to meet 90 percent of Wisconsin’s goal to more than double the renewable energy contribution to electric needs over the next six years.
But wind power confronts a barrier.
Developers of small wind farms, unlike developers of large wind farms, fall outside the regulation of the state Public Service Commission. They left to local regulation.
Too often, local governments are cowed by “not in my backyard” worries about the impact of wind turbines — worries that may be based on misinformation but that local governments lack the expertise to evaluate.
The result is impossible-to-meet restrictions that draw small wind farm development to halt.
For example, in 2007 Trempealeau County adopted a wind power ordinance so restrictive that it effectively banned wind farms.
A solution emerged with a proposal to require the PSC to issue model rules specifying what restrictions local governments could impose on wind farms. The bill also granted developers a right to appeal.
Lawmakers failed to pass the proposal last year. This year should make that legislation a top priority.
