JOHN GITTINGS - June 19, 2025 - madison.com
Rural Columbia County residents are raising concerns about a wind farm proposed for about 48,000 acres in the southeast area of the county.
Alliant Energy hosted a public information session June 12 at Rio Middle/High School about the project, which is expected to include between 40 and 50 large-sized turbines.
Residents’ concerns include the presence of wind turbines on farmland, potential threats to birds, hunting infringement, firefighters’ ability to access turbine fires and decreased property values.
Some also worry that Alliant would use eminent domain to complete the wind farm, although Alliant says more than 300 landowners have signed contracts approving turbines on their property.
Frank Liska, a Fall River attorney who is representing a group against the wind farm, though says that’s a mischaracterization. In reality, he said, there are more than 300 land parcels, but individual owners own more than one.
“This project has an impressive amount of local support from landowners,” Alliant Senior Strategic Project Manager Justin Foss said, adding that Alliant encouraged and paid for legal consultation for landowners prior to signing approval contracts.
The project could provide power to up to 70,000 homes annually, or produce 700,000 megawatt-hours a year, according to Alliant. Municipalities in which the wind farm is located are slated to receive shared revenue based on how many turbines are in the municipality.
“The goal of it, the wind project, is to meet the electrical needs for our customers in Wisconsin,” Foss said, adding that Alliant has roughly 500,000 Wisconsin customers and that the amount is growing. “What we’re really trying to do is make sure that we have resources to generate that electricity when they want it. To do that, we have a diverse mix (of power sources).”
Alliant, which first announced the project in January, is planning to install between 40-50 wind turbines in a large rural area near communities such as Columbus, Fall River, Rio, Arlington and Doylestown. There are currently 46 slated and 12 alternate sites for the three-blade turbines, which will be 660 feet tall at the tip, with the hub being 390 feet tall and 260 foot blades.
The proposed turbines are considerably larger than ones located at the Forward Wind Energy Center in Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties, which began operations in 2008. Those turbines are about 262 feet at the hub with roughly 134-foot long blades.
Alliant is currently gathering permits necessary for the project, Foss said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, officials said at the Rio session, with 2028 being when the turbines begin operation. Foss did not have a definitive cost estimate, saying that Alliant has not “selected the final technology,” but said it will likely be more than $500 million.
Joe Greeley, a Rio area resident who worked at Alliant as a relay technician for almost 23 years before departing in May 2024, said that renewable energy sources, particularly wind, are incapable of supplying necessary power for today’s electrical requirements. He mentioned the electricity needed to power cryptocurrency transactions as an example.
“Nobody wants a wind turbine in their backyard,” Greeley said at the Rio meeting. “Why I’m here is to dispel the illusion that wind energy is saving us. That is what informs public perception. There is no replacement for fossil fuels.”
Greeley owns a property that would be near three proposed turbine sites. He encouraged others at the meeting to speak with him about possibly stopping the wind farm from being built.
Over the last two decades, Greeley has removed the vast majority of the buckthorn on his property to increase its value and biodiversity. He fears that the presence of wind turbines will take away from the aesthetics of his property for a future owner, as well as the surrounding landscape.
“They can only detract from the natural beauty,” he said. “To me, this land without wind turbines is priceless. When turbines come, it’s just not the same in a very important way.”
Despite his opposition to the current wind project, Greeley praised Alliant as a “great employer.”
He and one of his neighbors, John Theel, fear that installing the wind farm will cause people to want to move away from the area and that it would be difficult to find people to move in, resulting in diminished property values. Theel’s property would be in between two turbines if the wind farm is built.
Turbine oil leaks were another concern Theel mentioned, as well as the effectiveness of wind farms during periods with little to no wind.
Another property owner, John Gross, who lives near Columbus, said that a property owner near him approved having a turbine installed on their property, but that the slated location is right next to his property line.
“I’m just not for the wind energy,” Gross said. “I don’t think it is cost-effective. The costs incurred by installing all this stuff could be passed on to me as a consumer.”
He said that, while Alliant may be consulting with large landowners, small land plot owners such as himself found out about the project “through the grapevine.”
“It so turns out that a (proposed) windmill is right behind my house,” Gross said. “I’m a little upset that I wasn’t informed earlier.”
Alliant has never used eminent domain for projects, only using private property that has been approved for use by landowners, according to Foss and other Alliant officials.
Liska, the attorney, also suggested that townships in which the wind farm is located would have grounds to enforce limitations on wind turbines if they can prove that the turbines have negative impacts on health, infrastructure, or aviation, among other factors.
He references a case in which EDP Renewables, doing business as “Marathon Wind Farm” in Marathon County, filed a case against two county towns indicating they attempted to enforce ordinances beyond authority allowed by state law. The case was dismissed on May 19 after the towns argued such effects of wind turbines.
“Local governments have a say but have enforcement delegated to them by the PSC – state Public Service Commission – but must have an ordinance in place,” Liska wrote in a presentation he has been showing in recent area meetings.
Alliant announced in 2021 plans to close the Columbia Energy Center, located near Portage, this year, with plans to replace it with the wind farm, according to Liska. However, in 2024, Alliant, in conjunction with Madison Gas and Electric and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, announced plans to continue Portage operations until 2029.
The larger turbines being proposed for this project would create more energy, particularly in low-wind areas, according to Alliant. Increased energy from larger turbines would require a need for fewer turbines in the proposed area than if smaller ones were installed, which would create less hazard for wildlife and reduce emissions.
Two other residents mentioned that wind turbines can produce low-level sounds that can cause sleep disturbance, ear pressure, nausea, irritability, and other health issues. Links between wind turbine exposure and negative health effects, while documented, have been widely debated, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Theel said that his son used to live near a wind farm, and said that the “whoosh, whoosh” noise “drives you nuts.”
Another area resident mentioned that federal grants for clean energy projects could be canceled by President Donald Trump’s administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, which elicited cheers from many other attendees.
Regarding fire department training concerns, Foss said that Alliant helps train first responders regarding turbine fires and other emergencies that could arise from wind farms.
Columbia County could receive shared revenue up to $700,000 annually after the project is completed, according to Alliant, which added that participating townships could split an amount around $540,000, depending on how many turbines are in the township.
Along with the shared revenues, Alliant estimates that the wind farm could bring 200 or more construction jobs to Columbia County, along with increased economic activity at area businesses.
The Columbia County wind farm would not necessarily provide power for just the area in which it is located, but would add power to Alliant’s overall power grid to serve customers throughout its coverage radius, according to Foss.
“When we build a project here in Columbia County, it is still providing power for customers in the far southwest corner of the state, far southeast corner of the state,” he said. “We’re really trying to make sure we’ve got energy for all of our customers.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2025/06/19/potential-alliant-energy-wind-project-in-columbia-county-draws-opposition/