That’s good news for those who would benefit from the additional 150 construction jobs estimated to be required to build the wind farms. The company would like to start work on the access roads and underground cabling in this Spring and install the turbines beginning this Fall. Once operational about 15 full-time permanent employees would be added, according to public documents. Those employees would make between $40,000-$60,000 each year. The school districts that serve the townships included in the Wind Energy Center would divide an expected $1.1 million in new annual property tax revenue. The county and townships would share an annual revenue of about $700,000 as each of the 133 wind farms would pay approximately $13,500 in annual property taxes. NextEra has entered into agreements with 83 property owners in DeKalb and Lee counties, who have consented to assist and cooperate in the approval process. Not everyone is happy about the project (understatement). When the county board held a public hearing on the proposed wind farm (Feb. 19) an estimated 375 people over-crowded the multi-purpose meeting room in the county health facility on Dresser and Annie Glidden. That was more than twice the number of chairs available. DeKalb County Hearing Officer Dave Dockus canceled the meeting because he felt the crowded conditions would not allow the audience to hear and participate. Several in attendance were residents of Alto and Willow Creek townships in Lee County. The Lee County Board approved NextEra’s proposal earlier this year. The public hearing has been rescheduled to 9 a.m. Saturday, March 21 in the Sycamore High School gymnasium (capacity 1,100). In June 2008, the US Dept of Energy released a report calling for 20% of the nation’s energy to come from wind power by 2030. Illinois is ranked eigth in the nation in installed wind power.  click on image for enlarged view For more information:
Wind power opponents: Wind power advocates:
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Mar 142009
aint it funny how we beg for progress and when it comes we complain about it
Wind Farms are not the energy of the future they are already here. We need to be taking advantage of what we have available. Future energy may be more solar or something we have not discovered yet. P.S. It appesrs that the only property owners who are not complaining are those who’s property’s were not selected for the turbines. 83 property owners seem pretty happy.
sorry last sentence drop the last not
Maybe there is more to this story if 375 people showed up to protest. I’d like to hear from them. What are there problems with this project?
Just because fpl changed its name to nextERA it’s still a Florida company using Illinois power. The wind farm is enormous. People shouldn’t take their eyes off of this one. I’m not saying turn it down but I think lots of hard questions have to be asked first. Like who has to pay for removing those things when they wear out.
I was in India in January, so once in a while, I dig around YouTube looking for interesting videos and found this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2qZEiZMgWs&feature=related
It is an ad for technology in India, it starts with wind farms, and they re-appear in the middle.
India has incredible diversity. I saw slum areas in Mumbai that I recognized in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” as well as technology areas poised to blow us away and leave the United States in the technology dust if we do not pay attention.
The issue before the county board has nothing to do with wind energy. It has everything to do with DeKalb County Zoning, which clearly prevents wind turbines to be built on agricultural property. Industrial wind turbines can just as easily be built in already designated industrial zoned areas.
Are wind turbines specifically prohibited via DeKalb County Zoning ordinances? If so then is rezoning applied for or do the ordinances allow special use? I wonder why commercially zoned, at least that of the Industrial flavor is not tapped more often by the wind energy people.
The real issue about wind power is that it’s the only continuously renewable power source within the entire nation’s grasp. The biggest problem that stands in the way of it being within our nation’s grasp is a nation-wide grid system for the purpose of delivery. I’m thinking that if former president Dwight Eisenhower could develop & deploy the Interstate Highway system in the name of national defense, why can’t we develop a comparable nation-wide grid system to deploy wind power? It would certainly be the answer to several national problems such as a less expensive & independent power source, cutting out the “drill, baby, drill” mentality of many supporters of our finite resources of oil & natural gas, let alone the lame-brained idea of “clean coal” production, create expansive employment opportunities which we so badly need at this point in our economy, & finally deliver unto us a truly clean source of power. All of this not to mention that the sight of wind farms is far more aesthetic than the oil fields created all over the country, such as in Texas. Just a thought.
I forgot to say that there is no good reason why wind farms can’t be built on agricultural lands. Farmers know that intermittent periods of allowing fields to lie fallow is good farming. Wind turbines could be installed during those times without hindrance to normal farming activities. I’ve seen photos of crops being grown right within the wind farms in other countries without nearly as much farm lands as the U.S.
Some 700 people attended the 2nd public hearing at Sycamore High School. Several bloggers attended as well but none I knew stayed for the entire hearing which lasted 19 hours and 40 minutes. Paul Stoddard, a member of the County Board, sat through the whole meeting. I let him get a few hours sleep and then I asked him, on his Facebook page, if he took minutes.
“Minutes? Minutes?? Hours, maybe. Days, perhaps,” he replied.
If you asked all of the people who attended the meeting and opposed the windmills if they have cell phones, what kind of answer do we expect? Its acceptable to have towers dotting the country side so they can aimlessly text message or call people while they are driving but we don’t want windmills? People are such hipocrits. 19 hours for a meeting? Stop wasting the taxpayers time and money with ridiculous whining meetings.
There is little that we can do about the Hearing Officer but the next vote is by the County Board who we elect. I will pay close attention as to how the people I vote for stand on this issue.
Pevo
Pevo… if the County rejects it and Kallembach gets elected mayor of DeKalb I guess we could put those 133 windmills in DeKalb!
I’ve read the Hearing Officer’s report and it’s sure got me puzzled. I don’t think a neutral hearing officer should give a recommendation one way or the other. I also don’t think a 19-plus hour meeting should have been held. Experts could have given their prepared analysis in writing, which would have saved a lot of time and we wouldn’t have to sift through the notes of the marathon meeting and try to figure out who the experts were and who they were representing.
Would the Kallembach plan be the one that uses the long runway to bring good industry and manufacturing here? Is this the plan that will employee thousands of people, including those highly trained AO Smith people? I can see it now, windmills at the S. 4th St. soccer fields – we could string the nets between them as goal posts. Or how about the golf courses – we could have huge, real life minigold towers. Let’s not forget the one that has to sit on top of the City Ad building – there’s a lot of air generated there, and enough hot to warm the city – course that could lead to global warming and a huge carbon footprint….better yet, we could put one on each of the TIF properties, and bought up flood zone houses – I’m sure that money could replace the loss of TIF money – we could even have ReNew sponsor a new contest – the painted windmills contest…….
all the people who are against the windmills are reaching out for any far fetched complaint that they can get a hold of,for example the health issues(what health issues?)if they do not want the windmills maybe they rather look at a big ugly peaker plant with 25 stacks that are sixty foot tall.
Why is an unreliable source of energy like wind or solar the energy of the future? Would you like com ed to turn of your power when the wind isnt blowing or the sun isnt shinning? These wouldn’t be built if not for goverment subsidies, we as a nation are now burrying our kids in debt. Geothermal is a reliable form of energy avaliable 24 7. most of the developed world is building and using advanced nuclear power. We are not because of politics …Eric
Eric, I think a blend of energy sources may be the solution. And your point on burying our kids in debt strikes a chord with me. Government investment in research and development of energy resources would be more welcomed if the public/private partnership created provided tax or energy cost relief for the end user. Granted, the use and technology of wind generated energy is speculative at this point but I don’t buy the “wind turbines will cause permanent damage” argument. There should be clawback provisions that would return farmland to farmland.
Good point on politics standing in the way of nuclear power. Imagine a nuke plant proposal here in DeKalb County.
As I was looking at NextERA Energy’s website, I’m fascinated with their waste disposal energy plant in Pennsylvania (I think). Incineration, methane, composting are other energy sources worthy of investment. I really need to learn more about geothermal.
we want electric cars…. They need electricity…The percentage of power that can be produced by alternate sources is very small.. It is unwise to rush into emerging technology with broad application. For years we had a very lax energy policy in this country President Bush tried to get domestic oil production up and did push for nuclear power.Small scale application of various alternatives that are funded with both private and public money is fine way to develope technologies that may provide power in the future, its not wise to jump in head first at this point. Eric
some community somewhere where will accept the next wind farm….if not you
Ladies & Gentlemen:
The problem lies not in the renewable energy sources but in the obsolete technology offered to you by engaged profiteers peddling interests of a Canadian company “NextEra” that “continues the aggressive expansion of its wind business” in US. Their “fans on a stick” have a proven reputation of falling apart after two years of operation (search Wind Turbine disasters), Strong Breeze wind speed needed to turn them, high level noise emission, strobing effects, visual bullying, and extraorbitant cost ($6 – $8 million a piece) to complete with installation.
Meanwhile, I happen to lead the Illinois based energy-saving company that offers the cutting-edge magnetically levitated (no noise) barrel-shaped urban turbines that generate power without blades and bearings, are very small, and can be installed on the building roofs or within telephone towers.
Anybody interested in these non-offensive, affordable, and highly-efficient energy sources? Please send your email to: turbines@uswaycorp.com.
Victor Korzen, CEO
U.S.WAY Turbines, LLC.
Aside from being majestic structures, adding something to the distinctly repetitive landscape in Illinois, wind farms represent a viable solution to the clean energy generation problem. If you want to protest about wind power (or solar or any other clean energy tech out there) please start working on a better solution or disconnect yourself from the grid!
These wind turbines are a horrible eye sore and I feel the proponents of them don’t have them surrounding their home. I am a resident of Lee County and pay $11,000 in property taxes. We have people on our street losing their homes and now have to look at these without any benefit? We have to deal with trucks going 60mph down our streets, ruining our roads, the county gets money and we are stuck with a home we can’t afford that will now never sell because of the wind turbines. This is ridiculous how FP&L/NextEra can just come in and build these. The farmers will get money now, how long will that income last? Who will maintain these and make sure there is not rust and damange caused by them? How are the crop dusters going to take care of the fields? How many birds do you want dead on your yard? This is horrible and I can’t believe I have lived in the country for one year and this has happened.
SFountain… Majestic structures? Distinctly repetitive landscape in Illinois? If you mean that the wind turbines add to the repetitiveness I’d probably agree. Wind farms are a viable option to clean energy generation. But I’ll save the superlatives until the proof works its way through the pudding.