Wind developer continues plans for Magnolia
Podcast Episode
Kyle Geissler talks with Janesville Gazette reporter Gina Duwe how regulations will affect plans for a wind farm in Magnolia Township.
MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP — Planning for EcoEnergy’s 100 megawatt wind project in Magnolia Township will continue despite the town board’s approval of what the wind developer says is a “very prohibitive” ordinance and non-supportive town leadership.
“We’re certainly not giving up,” project developer Curt Bjurlin said.
But he said as a business looking to develop projects in towns that help developers, “Magnolia could have acted in a way that was more enabling to allow us to build this project in a more efficient way.”
Board supervisor and town spokesman Dave Olsen disagrees.
“I think that’s incorrect. We have to have rules for everything,” he said.
“We do now have an ordinance that very clearly has rules that they (wind developers) can work with. Now they know where they stand.”
The board on July 3 unanimously passed an ordinance with turbine setbacks of a half mile from homes and 1,000 feet from property lines. Willing homeowners can have turbines placed closer—1,000 feet minimum—to their homes.
While Bjurlin repeatedly said EcoEnergy wants to work with the town, he and Olsen traded jabs in separate interviews with The Janesville Gazette:
-- Olsen said the town approved an ordinance with “very reasonable setbacks.” He cited a July 8 article in The Daily Reporter, a Milwaukee business newspaper, that quoted Tim Le Monds, governmental and public affairs director for the state Public Service Commission, saying “That’s a pretty safe distance. It’s acceptable to us.”
-- Bjurlin said he has read only a draft of the town ordinance and will be reviewing the approved version and firming up plans through summer on how the company will proceed.
“As this stands with the EcoMagnolia project, the current regulatory environment is not particularly favorable for building a project,” Bjurlin said.
The message the ordinance sends, Bjurlin said, is that you need a half-mile setback to be safe.
“I think it’s clear that that’s not needed,” he said.
He cited other projects throughout the state with less-restrictive setbacks and no reports of health or safety issues.
-- Olsen pointed to the provision in the ordinance that allows willing homeowners to place turbines closer on their property.
-- Bjurlin said he’s still disappointed.
“For us to go to each landowner in each house and ask permission on a house-by-house basis to have a setback that is standard in other places is a really difficult hurdle to pass,” he said.
-- Olsen responded: “I’m sure the auto industry didn’t think seat belts were necessary either. I’m sure he (Bjurlin) would like to not have any rules.”
The town ordinance might become moot because the 100 MW project would go to the state’s Public Service Commission for permitting. That process could override the local regulations.
Timeline
Construction on EcoEnergy’s proposed 100 megawatt wind project in Magnolia Township wouldn’t start for about two years, project developer Curt Bjurlin said.
Plans haven’t changed, despite the town passing an ordinance that makes it “very difficult to build an economic wind energy project,” he said.
The company still is proposing a 100 MW project, or 67 turbines at 1.5 MW each, he said.
Changes always are possible, he said, but EcoEnergy has no plans for different turbines, such as 2 MW turbines that would reduce the number of turbines needed to reach 100 MW.
The project has not been mapped out yet, he said, but he noted the township has many scattered high ridges rather than a broad open plateau. He said he doesn’t think Spring Valley Township would be a part of the project.
Given the proposed size of the project, it is required to be permitted through the state Public Service Commission—a process that can take about a year, Bjurlin said.
The company has no plans to take down a tower that’s collecting wind data in the town, he said.
The average wind speed measured at 197 feet for a year starting April 18, 2007, is 14.27 mph, according to EcoEnergy’s data from the tower.
The data also shows the strongest average wind speed during a 10-minute interval was 42.7 mph on Feb. 6. The highest two-second reading was 64.2 mph, registered at 2 a.m. on Aug. 14.
EcoEnergy also commissioned modeling of the wind speed at about 262 feet to see how much a wind turbine would generate. The model estimated a wind turbine would operate about 80 percent of the time over the course of a year.
Jul 25, 2008 at 8:39 a.m.
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No, not again, must me a slow news day,let's bash the Magnolia Town Board. The Town Board represent ALL of Magnolia people who owns small
farms to the corporte farms, they have to look at the whole picture. They are doing a wonderful job looking out for the future of my children and grandchildren. They are not saying NO to the project they are giving them guidelines that they must follow just like the guidelines they give to other building projects. Besides I wish everyone would take a deep breath and look into wind energy and this company alittle bit more. Evansville believed they were doing the right thing about backing the bio fuel plant. People of all walks of life supported it, invested in it,and the city did what ever they could to get the plant. What do they have now, NOTHING!!!! Before getting on the bandwagon again, read and research. This could be another snakeoil salesman.
Jul 24, 2008 at 1:56 p.m.
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There has been water in the basement of the townhall since time begain, it's not a new problem.
Jul 24, 2008 at 8:38 a.m.
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build them and maybe we will lose our addiction to alcohol, opps, i mean of course oil which i absolutely need first thing in the morning as an eye opener. wait i have the perfect soulutin, have the hwy patrol set up road blocks and anyone caught operating a motor vehicle under the influence of oil will be arrested and sent away, like iraq for example.
Jul 24, 2008 at 7:24 a.m.
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Oh no, attacking the Magnolia Town Board again? The Magnolia 4H had $200 donated to it by the Town Board to clean the Town Hall at the last annual meeting. Better start there. Better volunteer to fill some cracks, or stop the straying from the issue. Let's stick with the Wind Developers who threatened legal action to put up their Met Tower, who threatened legal action to keep the Board from adopting an ordinance, and who threaten legal/state action to keep their project going now. Let's have the wind developers show a map of where the project will take place, the consenting land owners who have signed on, and review the contracts on how the Wind Developers intend to conduct business within and outside of the Township. Property rights are lost when people sign contracts with wind developers. Bathrooms are cleaned, basements dryout, but industrial scale wind facilities have binding legal control over an area for 30-40 years and change the landscape and community forever.
Jul 23, 2008 at 10:40 p.m.
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rims mentions health & safety. You need to know that our town hall has had standing flood water in the basement since early April. The basement and upstairs bathrooms are mold and mildew infested. FEMA is here to help, but the board has not asked even after citizen suggestions to do so. How are they protecting helath & safety? Learnmore-property rights? The board has adopted an ordinance without considering the subject of property rights even though this is the subject of suits in WI. The arguements lack honesty.
Jul 23, 2008 at 9:32 p.m.
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Does anyone know about the 2MW turbines mentioned in the article? Would those turbines be the 500 foot ones that Eco Energy mentioned at the Magnolia town meeting? That is way taller than 40 stories or anything in southern Wisconsin except maybe Milwaukee tall buildings.
Jul 23, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.
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EcoEnergy is a farce. A vicious land grabbing property rights stealing farce, but a farce all the same. Bjurlin, Slaymaker, DePellis, and Haltaufderheidi of EcoEnergy/EcoMagnolia LLC have been slinking around rural Rock County for more than a year, and they don't have a map of the project area? They want the state to come in and give them control over 8000 acres, but no map? The original EcoEnergy/EcoMagnolia LLC map included 3 square miles of Spring Valley Township, because of Spring Valley's powerlines, but not any more?So who is next... Center Township, Plymouth Township, or will it be Union Township? For the Nimby callers out there, are any of you planning to live or move to a house that has a 40 story tall wind turbine 1000 feet from it's door? There are better ways for rural Wisconsin to get us off of coal, they are called Solar Energy, and Biomass. Search out " Cellulose Prairie" By: Brett Hulsey, out of Madison. The report covers everything from manure to prairie grasses and how they can replace our fossil fuel consumption. Solar is also on the web from solar radiation maps for the U.S., and the world (Wisconsin has better sun energy than Germany), and all kinds of solar products available now and solar breakthroughs that bigwind doesn't want anyone to know about. EcoEnergy wants to profit at our expense, and keep us all grid dependent. Farce.
Jul 23, 2008 at 9:01 p.m.
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ski1357,
I just read the article twice, and I didn't read anywhere that it was "the liberals" who didn't want the turbines in their backyards. I must have missed that point in this article, could you please let me know where you're getting that information? I guess you could just be assuming. What do you think?
Jul 23, 2008 at 7:58 p.m.
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You realize the company is already paying for a pilot wind turbine in Magnolia, right? It's there in the article.
Jul 23, 2008 at 5:53 p.m.
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Good idea if the company would do the study.
Of course the state will pay and the state is us and we also are the power users and we will be extra for the "green" power. Have you checked your bill and agreed to paying extra for your electicity?
What are you doing to conserve power?
So many alternatives to wind turbines. How about doing like Dane county wants to do. Build a manure digester to take care of the manure and produce power too.
Of course the rich investors won't make millions on that and EcoEnergy company won't get tax payer help.
Jul 23, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.
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THE WIND TURBINE IS A GOOD IDEA LET THEM PUT ONE UP AND DO A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF IT, THE PRO'S AND CON'S OF IT,THE COMPANY THAT WOULD BE INCHARGE OF IT COULD PUT MONEY TOWARDS ANY STUDY ON THIS MATTER,
Jul 23, 2008 at 3:59 p.m.
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He,curt lost and is a sore loser. He thinks he will eventually bully his way in and he is wrong.
or should I say BUY his way in.
Jul 23, 2008 at 3:57 p.m.
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This company, and this guy thought they were going to come in and run right over Magnolia residents and do as they pleased. These monsters have not been in residential areas any where to know what the health effects will be 10 years from now. Most of the time they are put out in the middle of no where and there is a reason for that. There are health and safety issues, just do some research. It's very clear these monsters are very questionable safety wise in a residential area.
Jul 23, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.
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Please notice -- this industrial wind corporation is threatening to have the rights of local government overturned. If your local government is not being challenged this is a wake up call for you. Our country is based on the power remaining locally. We must protect this right.
Why not smaller wind turbines that the government gives all of us? We could plug our cars in to them.
The tax money for wind turbines is only offered to large companies. Why is that?
Jul 23, 2008 at 1:07 p.m.
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Wind energy generation does not directly relate to oil imports. The energy on the power grid is primarily generated by coal, natural gas, or nuclear. Less than 2% of the US electric power comes from petroleum. Any direct comparison should take this into account.
Jul 23, 2008 at 12:15 p.m.
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Just another case of liberals saying we have to find alternative energy sources and when a plan comes together they say, "Oh no, not in my backyard." Getting so sick of it.
Jul 23, 2008 at 11:59 a.m.
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PB594 Do you live in Magnolia? Don't judge the quiet majority of Magnolia. they are hard working families that take there homes and land seriously. Do you realize that these wind turbines also depend on oil? do you know that the farmers that put up these turbines won't even benefit from the power that they will produce. Read the research all you have to do is google wind turbine you can learn a lot Oh by the way I don't live in Magnolia. I was raised there and still have family living there and I do own property in the township. Oh yeah they closed Magnolia Twps for the week because there all at the Fair supporting their youth.
Jul 23, 2008 at 11 a.m.
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I AM STARTING TO BELIEVE MAYBE MOST OF THE RESIDENTS OF MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP DO NOT GET OUT OF MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP TO OFTON. WAKE UP THESE PROJECTS ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. EVERY TOWER THAT IS CONSTRUCTED REDUCES ARE NEED FOR CRUDE OIL. MAYBE YOU PEOPLE LIKE THE THOUGHT OF $5.00 GAS OR WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN IT COULD REACH $10.00. YOU PEOPLE ARE SO CAUGHT UP IN YOUR EGOS AND BURY YOUR HEADS IN THE SAND AT THE DROP OF A HAT. CHANGE HAPPENS PERIOD. BE LEADERS INSTEAD OF FOLLOWERS. I WOULD RATHER EXPLAIN TO MY CHILDRENS CHILDREN YEARS FROM NOW WHAT A GOOD IDEA THIS WAS THAN EXPLAIN WHY WE NEEDED TO SPEND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON ATTOURNEY'S AND CONSULTANTS TO MAYBE HAVE THIS GO AWAY. YOUR TOWNSHIP IS THE POSTER CHILD OF HOW NOT TO RUN A TOWNSHIP.
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