Rural Athens residents mull wind turbines

Town of Johnson landowners gain information on a frosty Monday

On a chilly Monday night outside, roughly one hundred people packed the inside of the town of Johnson hall, located southwest of Athens, to partake in a discussion about the possibility of wind turbines coming to the

area. Jon Beran, a town of Johnson resident, organized the discussion so landowners could obtain as much information as possible on wind turbines before signing a lease agreement with Invenergy, which is a renewable energy company headquartered in Chicago, Ill.

He said 10 or 12 days ago, his father Norman Beran, received a knock on the front door from a guy wanting him to sign a lease agreement with Invenergy to allow it to place wind turbines on his town of Johnson land. At first, Norman Beran was excited about the possibility of earning extra revenue from having wind turbines on his land, until he and his son throughly looked at the lease agreement.

“We thought initially this might be something to look into because they are going to pay you $10 per acre for each of the first seven years and if they decide to keep your land in it then they are going to pay you up to $60 per acre each year,” Jon Beran said. “If they decide to put a wind turbine on your land, then you will get $9,000 to $10,000 for each wind turbine. That looks really good on paper. I would completely understand why someone would sign up for something like this because it’s good extra revenue, but the more we dug into the lease agreement, the more flaws we found in it.”

Jon Beran said Invenergy is trying to get landowners in the townships of Johnson, Rietbrock and Wien to sign a lease agreement so it can conduct a seven-year wind study.

“The first phase of the project is seven years when they will put up three towers in the area to monitor the wind,” Jon Beran said. “If they find there is enough wind, then they will essentially move forward with the contract that every landowner has signed. The contract is for seven years and then there is a 30-year wind turbine agreement and then a 30-year extension, so it is essentially a 67-year contract. They can terminate the contract at a moment’s notice but you are locked in for 67 years.”

Jon Beran said he invited a Invenergy to have a representative attend Monday’s public listening session in the town of Johnson hall, but nobody from the company showed up.

Cooper Johnson, senior manager of renewable development at Invenergy, on Tuesday provided The Record-Review with the following statement on the company wanting to install wind turbines to create clean energy on land in Marathon County.

“Invenergy is a leading developer of wind projects nationwide and has a long tradition of responsibly developing wind and solar projects across Wisconsin,” Johnson said. “Invenergy is seeking to bring significant economic opportunity to farming families in Marathon County, along with millions of dollars in tax revenues and hundreds of jobs during construction.”

“Currently, we are working to develop a proposed 150 megawatt wind project and 50 megawatt energy storage system in Marathon County. Our proposed project is at the beginning of an important and thorough evaluation process which includes future opportunities for public feedback. At this early stage in the project, we continue to engage with residents in Marathon County and build partnerships in the community.”

“Marathon County farmers have expressed interest in working with Invenergy on voluntary easements that can provide a long-term, stable hedge against fluctuating commodity prices. Wind rental rates can create an opportunity for hardworking participating landowners to sustain their operations across generations.”

Jon Beran on Monday showed the large crowd attending the informational session in the town of Johnson hall a YouTube video of the shadow flicker from the blades constantly turning on a wind turbine.

“The shadow flicker doesn’t occur all the time because obviously the sun needs to be out and facing the right angle at your house, but you will get a shadow up to three quarters of a mile from one of the wind turbines,” Jon Beran said. “Invenergy wants to install 30 to 35, 600-foot-tall wind turbines in this area. Those are giants.”

Jon Beran invited Fred Schindler, a Clark County supervisor who lives in Curtiss, and Marshfield attorney Martin Machtan to speak to the town of Johnson crowd. They are trying to prevent RWE Renewables, a renewable energy company in Germany, from constructing wind turbines in the town of Mayville, Clark County, near the city of Abbotsford and the village of Dorchester.

On January 19 they persuaded the Clark County Board of Supervisors to vote on approving a resolution to have Wisconsin Public Service Commission revise the State Wind Energy Regulations on Wisconsin counties. Schindler is attempting to get surrounding counties like Marathon to also vote on similar resolutions.

Schindler on Monday taped a map on the town of Johnson hall wall to show people in attendance the Soloman Forks Wind Project in Colby, Kansas. He visited a crop farmer who signed a lease agreement with ENGIE North America to allow it to build wind turbines on his farmland. Schindler said the farmer told him he no longer likes sharing his land, but he’s tied into the lease.

Invenergy owns the Forward Wind Energy Center, a 137.85 megawatt wind farm in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties near the village of Brownsville. The wind farm sits on approximately 4,000 acres of land. Invenergy also owns two solar farms in Wisconsin. It owns Badger Hollow Solar Farm, which is located in Iowa County in southwest Wisconsin. It also owns the Darien Solar Energy Center, which spans parts of Rock and Walworth Counties between Delavan and Beloit.