by jboullion | Jun 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
The PSC will hold a hearing in Tomah on June 29.
From an article by Colleen Kottke in the Fond du Lac Reporter:
They came from near and far, packing Legislative Chambers at the City County Government Center in Fond du Lac Monday to voice their opinions about proposed wind farm siting rules to be crafted by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
The proposed rules would ultimately result in uniform wind farm siting standards for local units of government, replacing a patchwork of different rules and moratoriums that have been imposed by counties and towns around the state in relation to small wind power projects.
The public hearings, scheduled around the state this week, were launched by the state Legislature after it passed a uniform siting law in October.
Using citizen input, the PSC will draft legislation touching on controversial issues such as maximum sound levels and setback requirements. Once passed, municipalities considering ordinances for wind farms would not be allowed to make their local ordinance more restrictive than the state model. . . .
“Right now the proposed rules are just a draft; that’s why the public comments are very important. There are a lot of interested parties and we want to make sure this is a balanced process,” said Deborah Erwin, renewable energy policy analyst for the PSC.
Energy slacker
Barnaby Dinges, owner of a public relations firm and member of the American Wind Energy Association, warned that more restrictive rules for siting wind farms would further harm the state’s quest to build its alternative energy portfolio.
“Wisconsin is already an energy slacker. We’re the only Midwest state that doesn’t currently have a major wind energy project under construction,” Dinges said. “New restrictions will make the state even less desirable for development of wind projects.”
He pointed out that the Wisconsin PSC already has a rigorous wind farm approval process in place for wind farms over 100 mega watts.
by jboullion | Jun 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
The PSC will hold a hearing in Tomah on June 29.
From an article by Colleen Kottke in the Fond du Lac Reporter:
They came from near and far, packing Legislative Chambers at the City County Government Center in Fond du Lac Monday to voice their opinions about proposed wind farm siting rules to be crafted by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
The proposed rules would ultimately result in uniform wind farm siting standards for local units of government, replacing a patchwork of different rules and moratoriums that have been imposed by counties and towns around the state in relation to small wind power projects.
The public hearings, scheduled around the state this week, were launched by the state Legislature after it passed a uniform siting law in October.
Using citizen input, the PSC will draft legislation touching on controversial issues such as maximum sound levels and setback requirements. Once passed, municipalities considering ordinances for wind farms would not be allowed to make their local ordinance more restrictive than the state model. . . .
“Right now the proposed rules are just a draft; that’s why the public comments are very important. There are a lot of interested parties and we want to make sure this is a balanced process,” said Deborah Erwin, renewable energy policy analyst for the PSC.
Energy slacker
Barnaby Dinges, owner of a public relations firm and member of the American Wind Energy Association, warned that more restrictive rules for siting wind farms would further harm the state’s quest to build its alternative energy portfolio.
“Wisconsin is already an energy slacker. We’re the only Midwest state that doesn’t currently have a major wind energy project under construction,” Dinges said. “New restrictions will make the state even less desirable for development of wind projects.”
He pointed out that the Wisconsin PSC already has a rigorous wind farm approval process in place for wind farms over 100 mega watts.
by jboullion | Jun 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Tower Tech Systems of Manitowoc will build 90 steel towers for Wisconsin’s largest wind farm, as We Energies adds a “buy-local” flavor to its renewable energy project near Madison.
The Manitowoc maker of wind turbine towers will build the 262-foot tall towers for turbine maker Vestas. The turbines will be erected next year in Columbia County at the $367 million Glacier Hills Wind Park.
The move comes as European companies like Vestas and Ingeteam look to expand their domestic production of wind power components.
Ingeteam last week broke ground on a $15 million wind power generator factory in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.
For its part, Vestas is ramping up production of turbines, blades and towers at factories in Colorado.
But for this project, Vestas opted to work with Tower Tech Systems, a Manitowoc company that’s part of the wind component firm Broadwind Energy Inc. Including factories in Texas and South Dakota, Tower Tech is the third largest producer of wind towers in North America.
The value of the contract hasn’t been disclosed, but Chief Operating Officer Paul Smith said it will mean job security for employees at the sprawling Tower Tech complex near Lake Michigan.
As wind project development slowed because of the recession, Tower Tech laid off workers. But this contract and other orders placed by Vestas will enable Tower Tech, now employing 160, to bring back about 60 to 80 workers from layoff in the coming months, Smith said.
by jboullion | Jun 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From Madison Gas Electric:
“Many of us have seen giant wind turbines from the road… but very few people get a chance to go inside. In this story, see what’s in the core and climb with us to the very top of the turbine!
It’s a 26 story vertical climb in a very tight space. See how it’s done and find out how energy is transferred from the blades, into the nacell and down the core of the turbine”
by jboullion | Jun 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news story by Mary Rinzel on WEAU-TV — http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/97103734.html
As they lined up their lawn chairs in Chippewa County, their eyes were to the sky. It was a big day at Sylvan and Leona’s Rothbauer’s Tilden farm. It was a day more than three years in the making.
“I think it’s a good idea, I really do. I think we’re going the right way,” Leona says.
For years, Sylvan and Leona dreamed of putting up a wind turbine. Now, that dream is up and running.
“Every state we went through had wind turbines,” Sylvan says of a Midwest vacation some years back.
It was that vacation that planted an idea in the farmer’s mind. He started saving for a turbine of his own.
“I just decided I was going to get one up, put one up and see what it does anyway,” Sylvan says.
Wednesday, that turbine [Ventura VT10-240] started spinning thanks in part to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program.
“Nationwide, we’re going to fund more than $100 million worth of grants in this program this year. In Wisconsin, that’s going to be about 75 to 100 projects that we will fund this year,” says Jeff Hudson with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Hudson says the Rothbauers will get a $15,750 grant to cover 25 percent of the turbine’s $63,000 cost. The company [SolarWinds, Bloomer, WI] that put up the turbine says federal and state tax credits also help.
