The wind industry is seeing more attempts by local government regulators to put restrictions on its growth and development.
Witness two examples, one in Illinois and another in Iowa.
The Piatt County Journal-Republican in central Illinois reported on how a county board agreed to put limits on wind turbine heights because of shadow flicker complaints and concerns.
The paper said the Piatt County board approved a 625-foot tower tip height limit for wind turbines and sent shadow flicker recommendations back to a zoning board.
Area residents had voiced complaints about the shadow flicker caused by the sweeping turbine blades. But a spokesman for Apex Clean Energy, a firm with plans to build a 120-turbine wind farm in the county contended research showed shadow flicker does not cause health concerns.
In a published report by Forbes, the story was headlined “Warren Buffett’s Iowa Wind Power Expansion Derailed by the Bridges of Madison County.”
The county leaders voted last month to ban construction of wind towers within 1.5 miles of landowners who object to them. MidAmerican Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary that expected to collect $10 billion in federal tax credits on its wind turbines sought approval for more turbines in the county.
The Madison County ban also imposed strict noise limits and eliminated property-tax breaks like those received by MidAmerican Energy.
Robert Bryce, writing for Forbes pointed out that Adair County was the first Iowa county to put a limit on wind farm development and did so in 2019. He also reported that since 2015, nearly 300 government entities “from California to Maine” have rejected or put restrictions on wind-energy projects.
