The twin spectres of reduced
property values, and piles of dead birds and bats have long plagued developeers
of proposed wind turbine farms in Midwestern states. Now, however, two
victories for wind farm development may be the twittering birds of a new spring
for wind power development in the region. In Wisconsin, it appears Senate
Republicans failed to muster enough votes to rescind a Public Service
Commission wind siting rule. The uncertainty about the fate of the rule has
held up wind farm development in Wisconsin since 2010.
In Ohio, the state Supreme Court
issued a ruling March 6, 2012, upholding the decision of the Ohio Power Siting
Board to permit construction of a 9,000 acre wind farm by Buckeye Wind LLC.
Opponents of the project contended befire the Board and the lower courts that
the 541 foot required setback of wind turbines from neighboring property was
insufficient to protect against damage by turbine blades breakig loose and flying
through the air onto a neighbor’s land.
While neither of these decisions
settles the issues once and for all time, both of them give some hope to the
proposals of beleagured wind power developers in the Midwestern United States.
