Wind project open house well attended in Outagamie County

Becky DeVries, reporter for WLUK FOX 11 (Green Bay), Becky DeVries reports on the EcoEnergy open house for its proposed wind project in Outagamie County.

An earlier article by Susan Squires in the Appleton Post-Crescent included details on the project:

The company, which is headquartered in Freeport, Ill., also is developing two projects in Calumet County. The Outagamie County project will cost about $15 million.The five turbines will serve Kaukauna Utilities and sit on utility customers’ land, said Curt Bjurlin, EcoEnergy’s Wisconsin project developer. Kaukauna Utilities is a municipally owned, nonprofit provider of electricity.

Although it has had preliminary conversations with landowners, the company hasn’t chosen any sites, Bjurlin said.

EcoEnergy doesn’t plan to make a formal presentation Thursday. Rather, it will have printed information and company representatives available to talk to officials, potential neighbors and property owners interested in leasing their land.

“The objective is to spend time talking about any questions or concerns people have,” Bjurlin said.

Proposals for two large wind farms, numbering about 50 turbines each, have caused enormous controversy and conflict in Calumet County, which EcoEnergy hopes to avoid with its small project in Outagamie County.

“There is an important distinction in that they (the small projects) are attached directly to the distribution line,” Bjurlin said. “The energy isn’t taken elsewhere.”