April 29, 2011 - Judge issues recommendations
On April 29, 2011, the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings issued findings orelated to AWA Goodhue's application with the Minnesota Public Utiltiies Commision (PUC) for a site permit. Judge Sheehy provided 179 findings of fact. In total, she found there is good cause not to apply the provisions of the county ordinance and that the county ordinance does not apply to the project on legal grounds.
- On health and safety, “There is no scientific support in peer-reviewed literature for the proposition that wind turbines cause any adverse health effects in humans.” (Finding #86)
- On sound, “The study results demonstrate that all of the wind turbine sites proposed by the Applicant are located sufficiently far from dwellings to meet the MPCA noise standards.” (Finding #74)
- On 10 RD, “The 10-RD setback is an overbroad method of regulating both noise and shadow flicker.” (Finding #99)
- On stray voltage, “There is no evidence that any wind farm operation has ever caused stray voltage problems of any sort. No reports of stray voltage have been associated with any of Minnesota’s existing wind farms.” (Finding #151)
- On population density, Belle Creek and Minneola Townships “are not significantly different in terms of housing density, than townships that are hosting other wind turbine projects in Dodge and Mower Counties.” (Finding #18)
Download the judge's full report
January 28th - Judge receives expert testimony
On January 28, written testimony was submitted to the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings on behalf of AWA Goodhue, LLC, regarding its application for a site permit. Providing the testimony were the project developers, four expert witnesses and one participating landowner, Chris Kalass. These participants described the benefits of the project and put to rest questions regarding stray voltage, shadow flicker, noise issues and more.
Download the full testimony or download the maps and visuals.
October 21st - Permit decision deferred to contested case
On January 28, written testimony was submitted to the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings on behalf of AWA Goodhue Wind , LLC, regarding its application for a site permit. Providing the testimony were the project developers, four expert witnesses and one participating landowner, Chris Kalass. These participants described the benefits of the project and put to rest questions regarding stray voltage, shadow flicker, noise issues and more.
Read testimony about:
Overview and the county ordinance
Overview and the Goodhue County ordinance
Mark Ward holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and manages Mesa Power Group, LLC. He has 28 years of experience in the energy industry.
The first reason not to apply the County's more stringent standards is because they are excessive - they don't regulate the project, they prohibit it. Second, applying the County's standards against our project would be extremely unfair to AWA Goodhue. And third, the MPUC ought not to apply the County's standards because they are inherently ill-conceived and inconsistent."
The county ordinance creates separate setbacks for participants and non-participants - requiring a 750 foot setback for participating residences and a 10 RD (2,707 foot in our case) setback for non-participants. By doing so, the County is allowing essentially zero exposure to the non-participants but far greater exposure to participants. This is a disingenuous double-standard. If the County really believes that a 10 RD buffer - over one-half mile for our project - is necessary to protect against perceived health risks from wind turbines, it seems disingenuous on its part to allow any of its residents to be closer than one-half mile, voluntarily or not."
Chuck Burdick is a Senior Wind Developer at National Wind and the project manager of the Goodhue Wind project.
There are a number of good reasons not to apply the County's 10 RD standard. First there are no health and safety justifications for a 10 RD setback. It is far longer than ncessary to protect against any plausible concerns, including either noise or shadow flicker. Second, there are no unique geographic or demographic features about Goodhue County that warrant application of the standard when the MPUS has not applied such standards elsewhere. Last, application of the standard is inconsistent with Minnesota's renewable energy policies."
The Goodhue County setback of 2,707 feet is unfair, inconsistent and designed to kill the project ouright.
Financial Impacts
Cole Robertson holds a Master of Science in Finance and manages Mesa Power Group, LLC.
In theory one might try to site a project to accommodate a 10 RD setback standard, the financial reality is that the project would be so expensive that it would be uneconomic to do so, and the utility would find other, more competitive resources."
If the MPUC (Minnesota Public Utilities Commission) upholds the County's ordinance it is not only the owners of AWA Goodhue who will feel the economic loss. The landowners of Goodhue County who are participating in the project will stand to lose approximately $20 million in royalty payments over the life of the project. Goodhue County will forfeit over $6 million in tax revenue and Minnesota entities and residents will lose over $161 million in gross revenue that was to be paid throughout the development, construction and operations of the project."
Applying Goodhue County's 10 RD setback would make the project economically unfeasible. As a result, landowners, local businesses and the county itself would lose out on a valuable revenue stream.
Stray Voltage Impacts
Paul Malamen is a registered progessional engineer and Vice President of Consulting Engineers Group, Inc. He has a Masters of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and more than 30 years experience with electrical generation and transmission.
The operation of wind projects does not result in the creation of stray voltage on nearby farms."
Wind project collection systems will have none of its electrical current flow through nearby farms because the farm receives their power from an entirely separate electrical distribution system provided by the local utility. The wind project will have its own substation and transformers."
Stray voltage cannot be caused by wind turbines. When present, it is typically the result of faulty wiring in barns.
Noise Impacts
Tim Casey is a Senior Environmental Scientist at HDR Engineering, Inc. He has over 20 years experience working with noise and vibration issues and is a full member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering and has served as president of the local chapter of the Accoustical Society of America.
HDR modeled noise levels from all proposed wind turbines operating in their loudest operational state. The average mean and median noise levels across all receptors, from all wind turbines in the proposed Project, operating simultaneously at their highest rated operating speed, were both calculated to be 31 and 32 dBA respectively. These average and median figures are lower than the existing ambient sound conditions measured in our noise study."
The maximum noise level from all wind turbines is calculated to be 43 dBA at the nearest noise-sensitive receptor. That maximum is well below the MPCA nighttime L50 noise limit of 50dbA"
This conservative noise study calculates noise levels to be considerably below existing state standards.
Shadow Flicker Impacts
Scott Zilka is an Environmental Scientist with 17 years experience and a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology.
A majority of homes (248, or 85.8 percent) are expected to experience less than 10 hours [of shadow flicker] per year."
The greatest amount of expected shadow flicker at a participating receptor is 39 hours, 21 minutes per year while the greatest amount at a non-participating residence is 33 hours, 11 minutes, both of which are less than one percent of the approximately 4,462 annual daylight hours in Goodhue County, Minnesota."
Shadow flicker is not a significant issue for the Goodhue Wind project. The shadow flicker modeling is very conservative and does not take into account the orientation of individual homes or their tree cover. Actual exposure to shadow flicker will likely be less.
Wetland Impacts
Ronald Peterson is Director of Environmental Services for Westwood Professional Services, Inc. He has a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources and more than 30 years experience natural resources.
None of the turbine locations would be within a wetland so no turbine would entail, filling, draining or excavation within wetlands."
No wetland function or value I know of would require a turbine setback of this magnitute in order to be protected. For these reasons, it is my opinion as a wetland scientist that the 1,000 foot setback in the Goodhue County ordinance is unnecessary and excessive."
None of the wind turbines are within a wetland. The current distance between proposed turbines and wetlands is sufficient to protect Goodhue County's natural resources.
Landowner Impacts
Chris Kalass lives on a farm in Minneola Township. He owns 280 acres of land, which he farms full-time.
it is a minor inconvenience that [wind opponents] will be able to see wind turbines on the horizon at times...such an impact is a small intrusion for the good the wind turbines will bring."
those of us who are looking forward to the turbines on our property have a right to use our property in that way...we are not interfering with their way of life."
Farmers like Chris have a right to use their land as they see fit, as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. The land that will be used for the Goodhue Wind farm is agriculturally zoned.
