September 28, 2015
Iowa

Taylor County board clears air on wind energy

By Mike Peterson | September 28, 2015 | www.kmaland.com

(Bedford) – Taylor County’s Board of Supervisors say they’re in favor of placing wind turbines in their county–but are powerless to do anything about it.

Board members discussed the issue at its meeting Monday morning. Over the past several months, wind turbines have been sprouting up along the Adams-Taylor County line. But, none of the turbines are located on the Taylor County side. As a result, many residents believe the supervisors are against placing the generators in their county. Not so, says Taylor County Supervisor Charles Ambrose.

“The people were of the opinion,” said Ambrose, “that we were not pursuing getting wind generating turbines, or doing anything about getting them put up in Taylor County. We decided that we needed to get the correct information out to the county residents.”

Ambrose says the location of turbines is usually a matter between the wind energy company and landowners. He says the board has no input on the matter.

“Nothing could be further from the truth on our part,” he said, “when it’s stated that we’re not in favor of it. That’s not the case at all. We have not been approached, and to my knowledge, there’s nothing in the works towards putting wind generation into Taylor County. But if that time ever comes, we would certainly like to work with the wind generating companies, and the landowners, and do whatever we can to make that a reality.”

Ambrose says the supervisors would welcome wind energy in their county.

“There’s some definite tax benefits on our part,” Ambrose said. “I and the other supervisors, in talking with then in the past, we would all be in favor of it.”

However, he adds there’s no incentives the county can offer to companies considering locating turbines. County officials also planned to post articles in Bedford and Lenox newspapers stating their position on the issue.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/09/28/taylor-county-board-clears-air-on-wind-energy/