Wind energy: a “tailored” project
Emmetsburg News | February 23, 2017 | www.emmetsburgnews.com
We are the Coalition for Rural Property Rights. We are not against wind energy. The wind companies like to call groups like us “anti-wind.” A better moniker for us would be “anti- 50 story industrial wind turbines erected in large groups covering thousands of acres of our community.” That is a mouthful but far more honest. If the landowners who want to “harvest the wind” installed a personal wind generator for their farm or owned enough contiguous land it is doubtful that anyone would have a problem with it.
The 50 story turbines generally come with a choice for non-participating land owners who will live within the proposed wind power plant. Your choice is a one-time payment of $10,000 that comes with a contract. Their contract gives the developer an “exclusive easement on, over, under and across all of the Owner’s Property to permit Generating Units or other wind energy conversion systems on adjacent property or elsewhere to cast shadows or flicker onto the Owner’s Property; impact view or visual effects from the Owner’s Property; and cause or emit noise, vibration, air turbulence, wake, and electromagnetic and frequency interference”- Invenergy neighbor agreement 2015. If a company feels the need to have a landowner sign this agreement then their turbines are too close. A half mile setback that our Planning and Zoning Board advised but that was rejected by the wind companies would help to mitigate these problems.
Wind companies may sell their project at any time to whomever they wish and this agreement will transfer to that company. You can sell your property but this contract will be bound to your property. Not that it would be likely to ever be a problem because you probably won’t be able to sell anyway. Who buys a home in an industrial power plant?
Non- participating residents have another choice. They can refuse the money and just live with the disturbances. The only thing they keep is their right to sue Mid American Energy. A company worth 58 Billion dollars that is owned by Berkshire Hathaway worth 75 Billion dollars. The only power we will ever have is the power we have now and that is fading as the wind companies advance.
Many communities are starting to reject these projects or instill setbacks of of a mile or more from non-participating property lines.
Wind energy projects should be tailored to fit the community. The community should not be forced to tailor itself to the wind energy project.
(signed) Janna Swanson
Coalition for Rural Property Rights
Ayrshire, IA
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/03/01/wind-energy-a-tailored-project/