Local laws leave wind farms out to pasture

From an article by Sean Ryan and Paul Snyder in The Daily Reporter:

Lawmakers will rally again for statewide regulations on wind farm development in the upcoming legislative session, and, if the standards pass, local regulation could be a thing of the past.

“We will push for the (Public Service Commission of Wisconsin) to create uniform standards and regulation of wind energy for all projects,” said Curt Pawlisch, an attorney with Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP, Madison. Pawlisch is revising wind farm standards that failed to get out of legislative committees last session.

“I wouldn’t say local regulations would be for naught,” he said, “but the PSC would determine what works and what doesn’t.”

And that could mean the state getting final say on any wind project.

For some, it’s encouraging news. Mike Donahue, executive vice president of Midwest Wind Energy in Chicago said statewide rules would help Wisconsin attract more wind farm projects because clarity and consistency in law is the key.

“In Wisconsin, (laws) vary so wildly,” Donahue said. “Oftentimes, they will change on you in the middle of the development process.”

And with the state scrambling to reach its goal of obtaining 25 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2025, state officials are increasingly wary of local obstacles.

Wisconsin’s biggest competitors for wind farm projects are Iowa and Minnesota, both of which have statewide rules and permitting systems, Donahue said. Localized control of wind farm legislation in Wisconsin puts the state at a competitive disadvantage, he said.

“That’s sort of the great irony of Wisconsin,” he said. “You have an excellent state policy framework that supports wind energy development, but you don’t necessarily have that kind of support at the local government (level).”