A county board in central Iowa moved a step closer to approving a moratorium on new renewable energy projects until Oct. 1, 2020.
The three-member Madison County Board of Supervisors approved the moratorium on Sept. 10, while agreeing to vote on it again at a meeting later this month out of concern about whether the county issued adequate public notice, according to officials at MidAmerican Energy Co., which opposes the measure.
County supervisors want to halt new renewable-energy projects while studying whether wind farms affect public health. Previously, the Madison County Board of Public Health in a resolution recommended a 1.5-mile setback between homes and wind turbines — a proposal that MidAmerican said "would completely wipe out any future wind development in Iowa." The resolution said there is "potential for negative health [effects] associated with commercial wind turbines," and that "current setbacks are inadequate to protect public health."
MidAmerican, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary that is attempting to reach 100% renewable energy, cited a report from the University of Iowa and the Iowa Environmental Council that said there is no evidence wind turbines pose a danger to public health.
In an Aug. 22 letter to county officials, the company said the Board of Health took action without "thoroughly and objectively reviewing all information presented, and issued a recommendation to the Supervisors based on a report that was either misrepresented or misunderstood."
Madison County, which covers 560 square miles, already approved 52 turbine locations for MidAmerican's proposed expansion of its 250-MW Arbor Hill Wind Farm (Wind XI), said Adam Jablonski, MidAmerican's director of renewable energy, and any moratorium would not affect that project. A citizens group called the Madison County Coalition for Scenic Preservation sued the county, saying that it improperly issued the permit for the turbines. The group lost in court and has filed an appeal.
Jablonski said the company has more than 2,600 operating wind turbines in the state and will have more than 6,200 MW of wind power capacity in Iowa by the end of 2019.
Officials for the county, which is located southwest of Des Moines, did not return requests for comment.
