The Clean Energy Law
In May 2011, Indiana passed Senate Bill 251, also known as the Clean Energy Law.
It created the Comprehensive Hoosier Option to Incentivize Cleaner Energy, or CHOICE, which set goals for Indiana to raise its renewable energy percentages. The goals are:
-4 percent by 2018
-7 percent by 2024
-10 percent by 2025
Source:
in.gov
Wind turbines on farms throughout the state have been a major step to accomplishing Indiana’s energy goals.
Some people in communities near the wind farms have complained that the turbines make unwanted sound and shadows.
Delaware County has considered opening up to wind farms, but will wait more than a year to study the impact on other communities before making a decision.
Indiana’s wind resources could provide more than 400 percent of the state’s current electricity needs, but the turbines have caused unrest in several towns.
Indiana is currently ranked 15th in the U.S. for wind resources, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab. Its 930 wind turbines account for more than 2.7 percent of the state’s energy production, according to the Indiana Office of Energy Development.
Delaware County has discussed wind farm development, but the county decided to do more research during a 18- to 24-month period before continuing, said Delaware County Commissioner Larry Bledsoe.
“The planning commissions are the ones responsible for writing an ordinance and wanted more time to study more about the effect of property values, noise levels as it pertains to setbacks and the shadow flicker that is claiming to cause illnesses,” Bledsoe said.
Some of these issues have arisen in other Indiana communities, including Madison County.
“I hate them; I loathe them; I wish I could blow them all up,” said Malissa Douglas, a Madison County resident whose home is in the epicenter of the Wildcat I Wind Farm. “They’re loud and keep everybody up at night. My 1-year-old daughter does not sleep at night. They’ve kept her up every night. I have migraines now — I’ve never had a migraine in my life.”
The Wildcat I Wind Farm, the most recently completed wind farm project, opened last winter in Tipton and Madison counties. The project was led by E.ON Climate & Renewables North America, a company based out of Chicago.
The farms haven’t caused grief for everyone, though.
The Jarrett family has eight turbines on their 1,500-acre farm in Madison County.
“It’s good, clean energy and brings a lot of money to the county,” Kent Jarrett said.
The amount they receive for each turbine depends on the amount of kilowatts produced, but he said they start around $6,000 a year.
Jarrett said he was able to get extra work helping E.ON and White Construction, the company that built the project. White Construction purchased its supplies locally from Tops Home Center in Elwood, Ind.
“It was a win, win situation,” Imran Malik said in response to opposition for the Prairie Breeze Wind Farm compared to a lack of opposition for the first wind farm in Tipton County, WildCat-1. Malik is a member of the Tipton County Citizens for Responsible Development
“It’s good for our environment. It’s good for our economy because all of the land owners get a good amount of money as a lease amount, and the county get some funds, so there was no opposition to speak of,” he said.
According to E.ON, the wind farm creates electricity that could power 60,000 homes.
Despite financial gain or clean energy, some residents don’t feel the turbines are worth the risks they see.
Douglas said she now has to take two different medicines a day to manage her migraines and that the turbines even interfere with her TV signal.
“When I leave for work at 5:30 a.m., you come outside and it sounds like you’re in front of I-465,” she said. “It scared me — it sounded like a semi. They say they only go one speed, and they’re lying. At night, you come out and they’re so loud, and they’re spinning so much faster.”
Another resident just down the road experiences the opposite.
“I don’t hear them,” Jarrett said. “I hunt three or four nights a week and I am right underneath them, and they’re never very loud. If it’s 25 mph wind, you can hear them whipping, but if the wind gets above that, they shut down anyway.”
Although concerns have risen, juwi solar inc., based in Boulder, Colo., has proposed to build another wind farm in the area called Prairie Farms. Some residents are in opposition and have signs in their yard promoting tiptonwindconcerns.com to keep turbines at a safe distance from homes.
“We don’t oppose wind energy as Tipton County [Citizens for Responsible Development], but we do believe that it needs to be developed in a safe manner,” Malik said. “We support that setbacks should be far enough so that the property values are not affected or impacted. And that the health issues are not there, shadow flicker is not there [and] noise goes away with the distance. The setback is the one key parameter for protecting the people.”
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