2nd Assembly candidates discuss wind power

The northern half of Manitowoc County, including the city of Two Rivers, along with portions of Brown County and a township in Kewaunee County, are part of the state’s 2nd Assembly District.

Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, is the incumbent and was first elected to the seat in 1994.

He will be opposed on Tuesday’s ballot by Ted Zigmunt, who captured the Democratic Party nomination for the seat in the September primary. He serves on the Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors and is president of the village of Francis Creek.

The Herald Times Reporter invited Lasee and Zigmunt to answer four questions to give Lakeshore area residents an opportunity to know more about the two men’s perspectives on various issues. This is the final question.

Issue No. 4: Should statewide standards be developed for wind power generation projects, and if so, what should be guiding principles?

Frank Lasee

Federal and state laws are already favorable for windmills. Windmills would not exist without very large tax subsidies.

People do not understand that windmills are a very expensive form of electricity that taxpayers and electric users pay for.

They only make electricity when the wind blows, and, for some reason, not even all the time when it blows.

Wind is free, but the construction and maintenance of these structures is not. Because of this favorable “encouragement” with our laws and tax dollars, I have deep concerns with a statewide siting standard.

I believe that they will favor windmills over the local people that have to live near them. This is wrong. There needs to be a fair balance.

It is better for each county to go through the struggle to find their local balance between windmills and the people that it directly affects.

Manitowoc County has been in the midst of this. This route allows for the maximum citizen input and also allows for the introduction of ideas and standards that have been tried and tested elsewhere.

Just because a decision is made in Madison, or Washington D.C., doesn’t make it better or more fair for those that must live with it day to day.

In fact, I believe that these decisions from a distance are often less sensitive to local citizens.

Witness what is happening with our economy now because of the regulations and requirements of our federal government.

At this sensitive economic time, our government should not keep adding costs to people and to businesses that produce goods or services and employ people.

Right now, our government should be looking to lower the cost of doing business in our state and country so that we can continue to lead the world in worker productivity.

Producing real goods and real services at a competitive cost is what will provide a healthy job market and get us out of our economic uncertainty.

Ted Zigmunt

I feel that wind power generation regulations should be kept under local government control. Not all local codes are perfect, but local government has the ability to amend sections of the regulations that are not working.

In Manitowoc County, we have both a large wind energy system ordinance and a small wind energy system ordinance.

Included in the ordinance are regulations regarding standards; setback, spacing and density, structure, height, clearance, access, electrical wires, code compliance, lighting, equipment, appearance, signage, noise and flicker or shadow flicker.

General requirements include permit application, site plan, legal description, blueprints or drawings, zoning, conditional use permits, and so on. The ordinance is eight pages long.

I realize there are people who do not agree with the county’s version of the ordinance; however, I feel it is much easier to have local government review and possibly amend an ordinance, than it is to have both houses of the Legislature repeal or amend a state regulation.

Many counties are starting to address wind ordinances for their own area, and many have them in place.

Each county’s lay of the land and zoning practices are different and unique, and that is why I believe it is best left to local government to decide what wind power generation regulations best servers their citizens.

Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter

31 October 2008

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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