I saw this editorial, which in part reads:
Wisconsin has set lofty goals for use of renewable forms of energy in the coming years as a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity.
The Legislature took a major step toward reaching those goals when both the Senate and Assembly passed a bill requiring the Public Service Commission to develop uniform rules regulating where wind farms can be located, including setbacks from homes and businesses, noise limits and height restrictions.
At present, the Public Service Commission has authority over wind farms that generate more than 100 megawatts or more and local government does the permitting for wind farms under 100 megawatts. But the local standards differ widely from one unit of government to another.
Some have even used these siting powers to effectively ban wind farms altogether.
Although some local units of government, notably several towns in neighboring Fond du Lac County, have developed reasonable rules on siting of wind farms, too many others have done the opposite. As a result, plans for wind farms capable of generating more than 600 megawatts of energy have been stalled.
Just this week, officials at Lakeshore Technical College, which has its own wind turbine and teaches turbine maintenance, said the school is working with a Japanese company on the next generation of wind turbines that the firm says could be built locally. We applaud LTC for being a leader in developing programs to support this is just the kind of new manufacturing that will help Wisconsin's economy rebound.
