Map of 100-meters-per-second speeds across IndianaS. Wind levels measured at 100 meters in the air were much higher than expected for the flat “There was a two-year study and afterward they thought the machine was broke,” Kepner said. What the meters showed was shocking, she said. The county’s economic development director, Kelly Kepner, said farmers were initially asked if meter towers could be erected to evaluate wind power in the area. And in Marshall County, commissioners recently voted unanimously to ban the building of commercial wind turbines there.īenton was the first county in Indiana to have commercial wind turbines. Officials in Tipton County, meanwhile, are pressing a company planning a 79-turbine farm for assurances that area property values won’t go down because of the development. That’s far greater than the 1,000-foot setback in counties like Benton. Opponents of a wind farm planned in Delaware County, for instance, are pushing for two-mile buffers between any wind turbines and residences. Opposition has cropped up around Indiana, with residents voicing fears of decreased property values, increased noise levels, and potential damage to wildlife such as bats and birds. “If we had to do it over again, we’d do it again,” Thompson said.īut the coming of the wind farms has not been without concern. in Brookston, Ind., has had 28 wind turbines on his property since he and several other farmers signed a contract with Horizon Wind Energy that year. Jon Thompson, vice president of Prairie View Farms Inc. Six wind farms were completed in Indiana in 20 alone. But since 2008, boosted by federal and local tax incentives, wind turbines like these have become an increasingly prominent part of the northern Indiana landscape. Less than 10 years ago, this area was just another stretch of flat farmland used to grow corn and soybeans. For others, though, the windmills mean a new source of income and energy. For drivers, they signal the last leg on a trip to Chicago. Speeding up I-65 just north of Lafayette, Ind., you can’t miss the tall, white windmills in the distance. Wind turbines north of Fifthian, Illinois on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. Darrell Hoemann/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
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