Then the county passed an ordinance. All turbines would have to stand at least a mile from any inhabited building and at least a half-mile from the nearest property line. County officials said the ordinance was designed to mitigate the turbines' effects on people's health. Winn said the new rule killed the project.
"There was not one square foot in the county where you'd be a mile away from everything," Winn said. "That was their way of saying, 'No, we don't want them in the county.'"
Across Wisconsin, smaller-scale wind developers like Winn say super-restrictive local ordinances are suffocating their businesses. Now lawmakers are stepping in with a bill that calls for the three-person Public Service Commission to create statewide rules. The state Senate is expected to vote on the measure Tuesday. "We heard loud and clear from a lot of our towns over the last year that they didn't trust the PSC," said Rick Stadelman, executive director of the Wisconsin Towns Association, which has registered to lobby against the bill. "We want to participate in developing those standards."
Western states have stronger winds than Wisconsin, but industry experts believe the wind is strong enough in the state's eastern and far west-central sections to produce consistent electricity. But a not-in-my-backyard mentality has made building difficult, developers say.
Developers had 22 proposals for sub-100 megawatt farms pending before local governments as of July 21, according to RENEW Wisconsin, which promotes clean energy. But builders say the locals have caved in to wind opposition groups and crafted requirements that doom their projects. Emerging Energies of Wisconsin proposed building seven turbines in Manitowoc County in 2003. County officials gave the Hubertus company the green light. A group of citizens sued and a judge ordered the county to apply a revised ordinance with stricter noise limits and setbacks. The same board of adjustments that granted the initial permit had to deny it, leaving the $20 million dollar project in limbo.
Bob Welch, a lobbyist for the Coalition for Wisconsin Environmental Stewardship, which opposes the bill, said the group fears the PSC will ignore safety data and craft lax site standards to reach the 10 percent renewable mark faster.
"I cannot imagine a more intensely local decision than land use," he said. "If the state wants to help the locality, provide expertise and guidelines ... rather than trying to simply lay down the law."
Wisconsin's bill looks like it will pass, too.
Democrats control both the state Senate and Assembly and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle backs the measure. A task force he appointed to study global warming recommended statewide wind farm standards. The bill doesn't set up any regulations, leaving it up to the PSC to develop them.
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