Dear Editor:

The Wind Energy developers would have people believe an 1800 foot setback from a property line will kill the wind energy business in Wisconsin.  That could not be further from the truth because what they aren't saying is in addition to setting an 1800 foot setback from a property line, the Gov. Walker proposal clearly states that land owners can waive the 1800 foot setback to distances as close as 600 feet. 

All the Wind Developers have to do is convince land owners that turbines are a good thing and incentivize them to participate as "good neighbors" of wind energy.Of course the developers don't like to do that for two reasons.  First, they really don't want to work that hard as it is difficult selling the scam.  Secondly, any additional contracts reduces their profits. 

Speaking of which, the profit motivation for the Wind Energy business is inflated to obscene levels due to the 30% subsidy received for every turbine built, plus they receive a 2 year accelerated depreciation on the systems they erect and they receive a surcharge for each kilowatt of energy they produce.  Fact is, without the 30% Federal Government subsidy there would be no turbines built anywhere in the U.S.

The real concern for the Wind Developers is now land owners are becoming aware of the wind scam and are not likely to want to put their land value at risk with a wind turbine on, or near their land.  In Fon Du Lac county, in the Brownsville area land owners are already faced with this dilemma as they have had the 402 foot turbines there for two years now and land values there have been decreased up to 45% depending on how close a home is from a turbine.  (Appraisal Group One of Oshkosh WI conducted extensive research in the WE Blue Sky Wind Farm in 2009 which verified decreased land values).

In Kewaunee County, the county I live in, we had the first turbine farm in Wisconsin with 220 foot turbines.  They began operation in the summer of  2000 in Lincoln Township.  These turbines were built as close as 600 feet from existing homes. 

A short time after these industrial turbines began spinning, the home owners did experience problems. Noise and shadow flicker were constant as there was little or no consideration given to the placement of these turbines. Some of the home owners began having health issues driven largely by sleep deprivation which was the result of noise from the turbines. 

They wanted out, and negotiated with the operator, WPS (Wisconsin Public Service) to get out.  WPS negotiated buyouts for several of these residents and then tried to sell the homes to no avail.  Ultimately three of these homes were bulldozed into the ground.I have a neighbor now who had lived in the Lincoln Township windfarm and experience severe anxiety issues as a result of sleep deprevation. 

He ultimately put everything he had on the line to sue WPS to receive a fair market price for his home.  His land and home was appraised for $168,000, WPS offered him $110,000.  He refused, sued and received a settlement of $158,000.  Later, WPS sold that home for $112,000, 33% lower than the appraised value.....don't tell me Wind Turbines do not have a negative effect on land values.

Governor Walker realizes, when you have wind turbines on land, the value is decreased and worse than that, no one wants to build or develop on that land.  Given the choice of two similiar properties with more or less the same attributes, a buyer will always opt for land where there are no turbines! 

The other issue that Governor Walker understands clearly is that subsidized wind energy increases operating expenses for businesses and residents in Wisconsin.  The Governor has a goal of increasing jobs in our state, keeping operating expenses down for businesses is the way to do that.Ironically, Wisconsin now produces more energy than we need. 

We have two nuclear facilities within 8 miles of my home which generate 1,700 MW of baseload energy to the grid.  If one were to try to replace that nuclear baseload capacity with wind turbines, we would have 2, 2.5Mw turbines for in each square mile in both Kewaunee and Manitowoc counties.  This is an area about 60 x 20 square miles.  How unrealistic is that?

Turbine companies (which are useually LLC's making it easier to bankrupt) always come out with statements similiar to "XYG Energy is building a windfarm in Xville area with 100, 2.5 MW turbines which will provide enough energy for xx,000 homes.  The numbers are always calculated with the turbines operating at 100% of capacity.  Guess what, the wind doesn't blow all the time and these turbines have a lot of moving parts that wear quickly and need downtime for maintenance.  The real capacity of any nameplate capacity should be calculated at best to about 25%. 

Fact is, wind turbines are a scam and cannot be considered as a reliable source of energy.

Ron Heuer.