LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Western Wisconsin group vows to keep fighting Highland wind farm 

Credit:  By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel | July 8, 2016 | www.jsonline.com ~~

A group opposed to the construction of a St. Croix County wind farm is considering its legal options and plans “to continue to fight against Highland Wind in any way we can.”

That was the message from opponents of the western Wisconsin project after state regulators responded to a court decision that overturned the Public Service Commission’s approval of the project.

The PSC voted 2-0 to address concerns raised last summer when a St. Croix County judge overturned the permit issued by the agency in 2013.

The agency removed a stipulation in the permit that certain homes be eligible for reduced noise limits from nearby wind turbines. Instead, a uniform sound limit will be in place for the entire project, and the PSC will use a complaint process to address noise concerns, the agency decided.

After the vote, developer Emerging Energies indicated that construction of the 44-turbine wind farm could start by the end of this year.

But the possibility of further litigation could result in further delays.

“Highland Wind is a bad idea in a populated rural area unsuitable for a large industrial wind energy system and fueled only by profit at the expense of the town of Forest residents,” Brenda Salseg of The Forest Voice, a group of local residents opposed to the project, said in a statement. “The only persons and entities that will benefit from Highland Wind, a merchant wind power plant, are the developers, future owners, and leaseholders.”

But developer Bill Rakocy of Emerging Energies said others would receive benefits from the project as well. So-called “good neighbor” payments would be received by anyone living within one-half mile of a turbine, and the county government and towns of Forest and Ceylon would receive a combined $410,000 a year in shared revenue for 30 years.

Meanwhile, the developer says he’d like to see the 44-turbine project built with steel towers made in Manitowoc by Broadwind Energy Inc.

Typically the selection of a tower vendor is made by the turbine manufacturer, he noted. But Siemens, which builds the turbines approved for the project, has a relationship with Broadwind Energy, which has one of its two tower factories in Manitowoc.

“It would be most practical that they would come from Broadwind,” Rakocy said.

Other than legal challenges to the permit, the next step for the project would be securing a power-purchase agreement with a utility. Rakocy said he’s exploring that as well as other options. Some other wind developments that have received permits have sold projects to utilities that want to own and build their own wind farms.

Currently, all of Wisconsin’s utilities are in compliance with the state’s renewable energy standard, but utilities are moving to add more renewable energy given dropping costs for wind power as well an expectation that more renewables will be needed to meet federal climate change regulations.

Source:  By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel | July 8, 2016 | www.jsonline.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon