February 5, 2022
Iowa

Western Iowa wind farm could potentially decrease property values

By Chandler Farnsworth | FOX42KPTM | Friday, February 4th 2022 | fox42kptm.com

A couple of days ago Fox 42 covered a story on a proposed wind farm coming to western Iowa.

But the farm may also bring some unwanted consequences with it- such as, the possibility of property values decreasing.

“Typically, when you have wind farms going in around residential areas, it tends to negatively affect the property values,” said real estate agent Jim Fleissner.

Not only is Fleissner a real estate agent, he also happens to live in Treynor, Iowa, a town that would be impacted by the wind farm project.

Because of his experience in realty, he knows what something like a wind farm project would do to home values in surrounding residential areas.

“Generally speaking, people don’t like to look at them and sometimes you can hear them,” Fleissner said. “You know, there’s the lights at night. All those kinds of things detract from the value of the property.”

Jim and his family moved out to Treynor about eight years ago. He said that one of the reasons for the move was the beautiful view that the town had to offer.

It’s also something that most of the residence enjoy about living in that part of Iowa.

But now, that may be in jeopardy.

“You know, the landowners that I’ve spoken to, the other residence of the town that I’ve spoken to, I haven’t heard anybody that’s super excited about it,” said Fleissner.

Even though the situation may not be ideal, Jim says he understands why MidAmerican Energy is setting its sights on Western Iowa; it has a lot of wind to offer.

“I understand why they want to put them here, cause there’s plenty of wind up here; but at the same time it kind of detracts from the quality of life that residence of Treynor in particular really value,” Fleissner added.

According to Nebraska Energy Statistic, Iowa is the second largest producer of wind energy in the nation.

Spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy, Geoff Greenwood, said that 90% of its energy comes from renewable resources.

If the deal is given the go-ahead, there will be more than 100 win turbines that will be developed.

The company says that they hope to have these turbines up and running by 2024.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/02/05/western-iowa-wind-farm-could-potentially-decrease-property-values/