(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson county board of supervisors today (Tues.) were updated on plans by Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative to put up seven wind turbines northwest of the Superior Ethanol plant.
Terry Bruns, President of Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, says the project is the first of its kind for a rural electric cooperative.
He says the turbines will be capable of producing up to 37 million killowatt hours a year, with the power going into a substation ILEC constructed near the Superior Ethanol Plant.
Bruns says the project will be funded by 43 million dolalrs in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds which the IRS is now making available to non-profit organizations such as ILEC thanks to the 2005 Renewable Energy Bill.
Bruns says the project has garnered support from most landowners in that area, but one adjoining landowner is concerned over aesthetics and possible impacts on property values. Bruns says they’re addressing those concerns by keeping the turbines atleast 1,000 feet away from any residence and is looking at the possibility of planting fast-growing trees to screen the turbines.
One supervisor, Paul Johnson, is skeptical, though. He’s requested the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission review requirements for wind turbine placement in the county, siting the possibility of even more turbines going up in northeastern Dickinson and northwestern Emmet counties with the proposed “North Star Wind” project.
Other supervisors, like Wayne Northey, are concerned over the perception Dickinson county is against using the wind as an alternative energy source. He says while they need to consider the concerns, there are many in Dickinson county who already are and will in the future benefit from wind turbines.
