Public energy project meeting on Oct. 23 in Bloomington, WI

Posted: October 8, 2024

CONTACT: PETE MORIS – morismedia@gmail.com – available for interviews upon request

Public meeting on industrial-scale energy project proposals in Grant County set for 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23 at St. Mary’s Gym in Bloomington.

Sponsored by a group of joint opposition volunteers and concerned area residents, multiple speakers will present information and answer questions about an issue that threatens the quality of life for Grant County residents, as well as our natural resources.

BLOOMINGTON, WI – A free, non-partisan public information meeting to discuss multiple industrial-scale energy projects planned in Grant County is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at St. Mary’s Gym, located at 531 Congress Street in Bloomington. Based on public records available through the Grant County Register of Deeds office, multiple properties in Patch Grove, Bloomington, Mt. Hope, Little Grant and Millville townships have signed energy lease agreements to potentially host wind turbines as part of the Hidden Valley Energy Project.

The October 23 event is the second in a series entitled Preserving & Protecting Our Rural Legacies. Opposition volunteers previously conducted an August 23 meeting in Belmont that primarily focused on the Badger Hollow and Uplands Wind projects impacting eastern Grant County, as well as Iowa and Lafayette Counties. The Bloomington meeting is the first public meeting in western Grant County that will discuss the potential ramifications of the Hidden Valley Energy Project. Residents of Southwestern Wisconsin already affected by energy projects will be available to share their first-hand account of how industrial-scale wind turbines have impacted their health, their quality of life and their communities.

“These current proposals for industrial energy projects in Grant County represent one of the most critical moments in our region’s history,” said Pete Moris, an opposition volunteer and one of the organizers of the Bloomington event. “Foreign and out-of-state energy developers who are seeking to take advantage of millions of dollars of federal subsidies, tax breaks and incentives pose an existential threat to our way of life in rural Wisconsin.

“Area residents concerned about preserving the natural beauty and the unique properties of the Driftless Region should attend this event to get informed before the Hidden Valley Energy Project goes before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. We have an obligation to future generations to protect our region that is home to Wyalusing and Nelson Dewey State Parks, as well as the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge and the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. Since the vast majority of the regulatory authority over energy projects of this scale has been given to the appointed, not elected, Wisconsin Public Service Commission, it is imperative that local residents, townships and villages take action now before it is too late.”

The construction of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line in SW Wisconsin and its subsequent crossing of the Mississippi River at Cassville has helped spark a flurry of land agents attempting to secure energy lease agreements in both Wisconsin and Iowa. A group of Iowa residents in Jackson and Clinton Counties are currently opposing a NextEra Energy project in their area.

While not directly tied to the construction of Cardinal-Hickory Creek, the phenomenon of energy companies and land agents aggressively pursuing energy leases is a concern across the Midwest. Farmland First is a group organized in Central Wisconsin that indicates that they are “highly concerned with the predatory tactics used by wind and solar companies in order to coerce landowners to sign away their property rights in the name of green energy.” In addition to Clinton and Jackson Counties in Iowa, organized opposition groups are also active in Madison, Worth and Winnebago Counties, just to name a few.

Land control and the rights of non-participating landowners are among the many concerns being voiced across the Midwest and will be one of the focal points of the October meeting in Bloomington. Utilities don’t just erect pieces of highly visible infrastructure such as wind turbines and grid-tie lines, they require and build expansive networks of land control.

Current Wisconsin statutes permit a wind turbine to be erected as close as 1,250 feet to a non-participating neighbor’s home. Meanwhile, current U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations allow a wind turbine to be placed within 660 feet of a bald eagle nest. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources can provide recommendations to energy developers, but ultimately that agency has little, if any, authority to control energy siting decisions on properties not owned by the DNR.

Preserving & Protecting Our Rural Legacies will also focus on the following topics:

Quality of Life: When the for-profit activities of any corporation or individual threaten the health and safety of a project’s neighbors, we should all be concerned. While energy companies profess the many economic benefits to participating communities, what is the ultimate price being paid?

Protection of Natural Resources: Presenters will inform attendees about likely, negative impacts on our already threatened bat and eagle populations, as well as water resources. The public will be informed of ways to prepare for participation in the upcoming Public Service Commission review process and make these unacceptable threats abundantly clear.

Public Health Priorities:  Under high wind speeds, three families in the Montfort area are being forced to leave their homes due to extreme, repetitive, air pressure changes created by the 551- foot high wind turbines constructed for Red Barn.

Local Economy Priorities: The monetary value of landowners’ greatest asset, the land itself, has been rising at the rate of approximately 6% per year^[i]when not compromised by utility obstructions and controls. Landowners and local governments will be encouraged to compare the value of their land and tax revenues, over coming decades, with and without utility incursions.

Restoring Local Control.  A long-held fundamental right of local government planning has been to personally determine what kinds of activities are compatible with long-term community goals. This presentation will focus on deficiencies in Wisconsin laws that must be corrected and actions citizens can take to promote the restoration of fundamental community rights as soon as possible.