June 23, 2023
Wisconsin

Kewaunee Co. residents and local officials voice concerns about proposed wind turbines

by: Katie Amrhein | Posted: Jun 22, 2023 | wearegreenbay.com

Wednesday night’s Montpelier town board meeting was packed with residents concerned about potential wind turbines being built in their backyard.

Roxy De Cleene cited health concerns, saying, “The more I research into it, there are health issues. Something is going on, so somebody really needs to do research on this.”

According to State Senator Andre Jacque, the residents who spoke at the meeting claimed representatives with the energy company Invenergy have knocked on their doors, asking for permission to build turbines close to their property. Jacque says he is concerned about the company not having clear communication with local government officials.

“They typically avoid any sort of contact with town government, and county supervisors. It’s something where they are really doing it in an underhanded fashion,” Jacque says.

We took Jacque’s concerns to Invenergy for their side of the story.

“Invenergy develops projects where we have supportive and engaged landowners, a strong wind resource, access to the grid, and a customer base seeking to diversify their generation portfolio with economical, renewable wind power. Invenergy is looking forward to bringing significant economic opportunity to Wisconsin families, along with millions of dollars in tax revenues, construction jobs, and full-time operations & maintenance positions.” —Dylan Lennie, Senior Analyst, Renewable Development

The company’s website boasts the benefits of wind energy, saying it powers communities with a limitless, free, and non-polluting renewable energy source.

Jacque isn’t convinced. He says, “Some things in current law are tilted toward the industrial wind turbine companies.” He plans to address the issue at the state level.

There will be plenty of debate and discussion before the project could become a reality.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2023/06/23/kewaunee-co-residents-and-local-officials-voice-concerns-about-proposed-wind-turbines/