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Wind Power News: Wisconsin
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Leeward Renewable Energy cancels Highland Wind Farm project in Town of Forest
TOWN OF FOREST – Leeward Renewable Energy, based out of Dallas, Texas, has sent a letter dated November 12 to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, saying that the Highland Wind Farm project has been cancelled. The proposed 102.5 megawatt project in the Town of Forest would have had 41 wind turbines. Emerging Energies began developing the proposal for Highland Wind Farm in 2008, and some years later, sold the proposal to Leeward Renewable Energy. Emerging Energies/Highland Wind Farm initially . . . Complete story »
Judge pauses construction of Cardinal-Hickory Creek power line; opponents face $32M bond
A Dane County judge has agreed to temporarily halt construction of a power line through southwest Wisconsin, provided opponents of the project can come up with millions of dollars to cover potential costs of a delay. Utilities had planned to begin building the $492 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line between Middleton and Dubuque, Iowa, on Oct. 25, according to court documents. Judge Jacob Frost granted a request Monday for an injunction to put the project on hold while the courts . . . Complete story »
Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear appeal from former regulator accused of bias in power line case
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a former regulator’s relationships with utility executives created a conflict of interest that could scuttle a controversial power line to be built across southwest Wisconsin. In a split decision Tuesday, the high court agreed to hear Mike Huebsch’s challenge to subpoenas from power line opponents who sought to question him and inspect his phone for encrypted communications. The Driftless Area Land Conservancy and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation – along with Dane County and . . . Complete story »
Cardinal-Hickory Creek: Former regulator asks Supreme Court to take over power line dispute
The utilities, which have spent at least $126.4 million so far on the project, say it is “critical to ensuring Wisconsin can transition to a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy future” by enabling the import of energy from wind turbines in Iowa. The plaintiffs, who say the line is unneeded and would be a blight on the environmentally sensitive Driftless Area, initially challenged the permit on the grounds that Huebsch served on an advisory board to the regional grid operator, which had supported the line before the commission, and that PSC chair Rebecca Valcq previously worked as an attorney for the majority owner of ATC. Complete story »
Wisconsin regulators pass on policy changes, order further study of clean energy transition
Wisconsin regulators have agreed to gather more information on the clean energy transition while passing up a range of suggested policy changes that could speed the state’s shift from fossil fuels. The Public Service Commission voted Thursday to explore the use of different rate structures, energy efficiency programs and issues of customer affordability and changes to the current planning process, while continuing to encourage utilities to experiment with new technologies and policies. The vote was in response to dozens of . . . Complete story »
Large-scale power farms aren’t green
Building solar and wind farms and transmission is not economically, socially or environmentally sound. It is big business disguised as green energy, meant to keep energy production in the hands of the utilities. Utilities donate tens of millions of dollars every year to manipulate policies and regulation. American Transmission Company has given more than $1 million to the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. Utilities ensure that governors and most legislators ignore public interests. The DNR turns a blind eye to . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines would spoil Driftless Area
“Get out of Dodge” (and also Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties). We are not an experiment of taller and more megawatts than any other place for industrial wind turbines on the land of the Driftless Area. Turbines can impact the health of people in southwest Wisconsin. They can impact the beauty of southwest Wisconsin. They can impact the land, air, water and environment of southwest Wisconsin and kill local tourism. Southwest Wisconsin has more than enough electricity and does not . . . Complete story »
Utilities call for quick re-vote on permit; opponents say courts should decide power line’s fate
Utilities seeking to build a controversial power line through southwest Wisconsin want regulators to reissue their permit as quickly as possible, while opponents say the project needs a complete re-evaluation in light of secret communications with utility executives. American Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative have asked the Public Service Commission to rescind the permit for the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line and hold a new vote “as expeditiously as reasonably possible” on the $492 million project, which is . . . Complete story »
‘Cross The Line’: Controversial transmission line in Iowa trying to survive
A case study for the national renewable energy debate is happening right now in northeast Iowa. “I think everybody likes the idea of renewable energy. I certainly do. But there’s more to it than just the wind blows on turbines and makes power,” Mike Deutmeyer said, a dairy farmer in the right of way of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. The Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line plans to go from the Hickory Creek Substation in rural Dubuque County, to the Cardinal . . . Complete story »
Huge wind farms aren’t the solution
The fate of 250 square miles of the beautiful Driftless region is in the hands of about 50 landowners. Sales agents for the multinational corporation Pattern LLC have been approaching landowners in southwest Iowa and Lafayette counties asking them to sign lease contracts for 170, 650-foot-high industrial wind turbines. With enough signatures, the state could order the 600 megawatt system to be constructed, which could lead to even more industrialization. Wisconsin already has more electrical power plants than we can . . . Complete story »
