Would you want to live next to a wind turbine?

I would be fine living next to a wind turbine and even a larger wind farm, especially if my community had an ownership interest in the project.

I don’t consider the modest visual “pollution” a reason to object to a wind project. I like my pollution where I can keep an eye on it. I think that the invisible toxic pollution coming from coal plants (mercury, fine particulates, NOx, SOx and others) as business as usual are a far greater threat to my health and that of the children, than seeing wind turbines, which can be removed when their useful life is over. Try getting the mercury, NOx and SOx back after 25 or 30 years of polluting the fish, the streams, the trees and all the critters that breathe the air.

I would be proud to live near a wind farm, provided my home was set back the appropriate distance set forth by the State, which I believe an entirely adequate setback.

If I were living in the country or on the edge of a small town, and the farmer next door wanted to host a commercial wind turbine on his or her property, I would be supportive. I have no aesthetic complaints regarding wind generators, even the ones on 80-meter towers. Given a choice between looking at a wind turbine or a 3,500 sq. ft. house with an attached three-door garage, I’ll take the turbine every time. Moreover, this form of energy production does not deplete its fuel source, not does it discharge pollutants into the environment. It should be our highest priority to invest in local, renewable forms of energy capture while we still have some wealth with which to accomplish this.

I have seen a lot of the negative news articles regarding the wind project in Goodhue County and went out to the existing wind project south of Dodge Center to see how bad it really is. After sitting underneath one for a while (yes, the wind was blowing) my opinion is they are a good thing and much of the negative commenting cannot be accurate. There is a lot more noise from other agricultural operations than from large wind turbines, and I’d live by one.

I’d be even happier if I got paid for living next to a wind turbine, and maybe this is some of the issue?

I’m 81 years old and remember when we used a windmill to pump water for our livestock and, later, to generate electricity for our small farm. Would I live near a wind farm? Absolutely! The whoosh of the large turbines would be a lot better to listen to than the squeak, squeak of the old windmill. I’m strongly in favor of community wind projects such as the Goodhue Wind Farm that allows Minnesota residents to reap the rewards of a renewable source of energy and money back to the Minnesota residents who invest in these projects. I might not like it as well if the turbine was owned by a company based overseas simply because there would be less economic return to the community.

In response to Gary F.: As a retired electrical engineer I can tell you there is no stray voltage with a wind turbine. Also, while some migratory birds may be impacted by turbines, I have never heard of it being an issue with pheasants. Wind farm developers have to do environmental impact studies and mitigate these concerns by careful & studied placement of the turbines within their footprint.

You Bet!

I would be quite willing to live next to a wind turbine or wind farm. They have minimal physical impacts while supporting the rural economy with good jobs and tax revenue. Sound is minimal and other impacts are easily addressed. Thumbs up!

At first I thought sure, what’s the big deal. They are graceful machines I don’t consider an eye sore and they produce energy in a manner I agree with. Then I googled low frequency sound pollution. The health effects are not something I would be willing to subject myself or my family to. One might not be so bad but not a whole farm of them. So yes I want them but not next to me.

The question needs to be phrased correctly. If the question is “Would you rather live next to a wind turbine, coal mine or nuclear plant?”, just about everyone would pick the wind turbine. If the question is “Assuming nothing else changes, would you like a wind turbine 1000 ft from your house?”, most people would say no. However, neither of these are usually the real question that landowners have to answer. That question is usually “Would you live next to a wind turbine for $5,000-$10,000 per year?”, and the answer is generally yes.

Most of the fear of wind turbines is driven by fear of the unknown, much like that of high voltage power lines in the 70’s. Once people are around them for a few years (ie, those in southwest MN where turbines are abundant), they realize they’re no big deal.

The fears about low frequency noise are based upon complete junk science which has been refuted 100 times over. Unfortunately, there’s no law against putting junk on the internet.

I would welcome the opportunity to live next to a wind turbine, but would prefer to have the wind turbine on my land to be a little more financially beneficial. My in-laws own land in Lake Benton, MN and their land is surrounded by wind turbines. They don’t have any on their property but have still received compensation from the developer. I have visited and stayed overnight without losing any sleep due to noise. Some of these towers have been there for years so the technology is a little dated compared to modern day turbines that produce less noise and generate more power. This also happens to be one of the poorest counties in the state and the wind turbines have added much needed revenue and jobs. There are always going to be people that support wind energy and those against it for various reasons. I think it’s important to listen to what people are saying on either side, make sure the facts are substantiated, and come to a reasonable compromise.

My wife and I would absolutely love to live next to a wind turbine. We both believe they are graceful feats of engineering. I know I could sit and watch them turn for hours on end.

Admittedly I am a bit biased, as I currently work on the newest expansion of the Buffalo Ridge wind farm in SD, but I firmly believe wind power must be an integral part of our energy generating mix.

Larger wind farms are typically a shot in the arm of the local economy as well. Landowners typically receive several thousand dollars a year for right-of-way, and the footprint of the towers has a minimal impact on farming and grazing land.

A mid sized project easily requires 200+ workers. These workers need food, housing, entertainment, and supplies, which are usually purchased locally. Finally, locals are typically hired to become full-time maintenance technicians to service the turbines after completion.

As for the negative impacts, I understand bird and bat strikes are substantially down with the more recent designs, to the point that cell phone towers are more lethal to wildlife than wind towers. Those of us who live in urban or suburban environments, or even in rural areas anywhere near a highway deal with more noise than a wind tower could possibly emit.

Yes, if I lived in a rural area with a good wind resource I would purchase a wind turbine to power my home – Small Wind. If my neighbors and I had the land, wind resource and investment opportunity to build a Community Wind farm, then yes, I would work on development of several commercial scale turbines. Wind energy is clean, renewable, the wind is free, and the economic benefits of local ownership are three to five times higher than corporate ownership that depends on leasing land (see NREL.gov for studies).

Thanks for the gentleman who pointed out that Europe is far ahead of the US in generating wind and solar – and an enormous percent of that (85% in Denmark) is owned by regular community members and not multinational corporations.

It would make giving directions to your house much easier!! “Follow the wind turbine, I’m the blue house with shutters”.

It would not bother me to live near a wind turbine. I think they are quite amazing structures,. There are state mandated setbacks from building sites, which seem very fair to me. I am willing to do my part to make America a better place to live.

It seems almost everyone believes we need to make changes to make America a better place to live. However, many want America to change as long as it does not have any impact on them. Renewable energy is one way we can help America. Wind Energy is not the only answer but it is one of many we need to embrace and support. As we send prayers to our American citizens suffering from the massive oil spill, it is reassuring to know that Wind Energy does not pollute.

I question who is behind the driiving force of the anti-wind efforts. Is it foreign oil? Terrorism? Who would want to hurt American?

As our soldiers deploy to proudly support America, we need to do our part at home too. Yes, America does need to make changes at home. Our first step is to rid ourselves of excessive greed and begin to view the big picture. What can we do to make America a better place to live. Wind Energy is definitely one of the answers. You may bring wind turbines to my neighborhood!

In the same way that we, as a country, are leaving a shameful national debt for our grandchildren to clean up at some point in the future, we are leaving a shameful ecological debt. As long we continue to power our current lifestyles with fuels whose externalities (in the form of carbon building up in the atmosphere and nuclear waste building up in casks around our nuke plants) are not priced into our monthly electrical bills we, are leaving another mess for our grandchildren to clean up.

It is about time that we do the right thing and begin to rely, to the maximum extent possible on renewables. It is unconscionable to leave a wasteland for those who come after us. As the grand children of the NIMBY’s look back through the news clippings of grandpa’s opposition to the solution, I wonder what they will think?

Yes, If you want to put a wind tower on may land, and pay me to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, I’m all in.

Absolutely, I would live near a wind turbine. I currently live only a few miles from several large wind projects, and go through them very often. I have talked with my neighbors who have lived among them for years. The fear-mongers of the anti-wind movement travel from project to planned project trying to scare the bejeebers out of anyone naive enough to buy their propaganda. In most areas, the concerns go away after the the turbines are up and the anti-wind zealots of the immediate area realize that the reality is that they’ve been duped. It’s fear that drives this, and the anti-wind movement knows it. That’s why the turmoil goes away a few years after construction, and moves on to the next project that is going through the permitting process.

I am absolutely convinced that a wind turbine is by far a better neighbor to the agricultural community than are all the non-ag residences that oppose everything that ag needs to do to make a living off our land.

We cannot ask this question without its corollary: Would you want to live next to the new high voltage transmission lines which are necessary to move remotely-generated wind power to market? Are steel lattice towers and aluminum wires as “cool”, “graceful”, “aesthetic”, or in any other sense as pleasing a neighbor as the wind turbines whose existence they enable?

For sure. I have talked to lots of people in older projects where they have been running for years. And they build even better projects today.

I just hope that all those who have bought into the organized anitwind scare tactics aren’t sorry down the road because they passed up their only chance to share in the monetary benefits from the project in their area. There are people in older completed projects that did that, and they wish now that they hadn’t been quite so naive. The anti-wind turmoil is gone, the neighborhood has healed, the turbines are now considered a “good neighbor” contributing to the economic well being of the community and a normal part of the neighborhood, and life in the community and region is far better for having them.

Yes! It’s a lot better than living next to a nuclear plant or a coal plant!

Yes I would and plan to have one in my yard in the next 2 years. Since the newer types like with an egg beater design instead of the blades seem to be less noisy. Hope to do more research first. Each time I see a blade style wind generator, I hope, we can get enough up soon enough to make a difference?

No I would not want to live next to one of these things.

The people who are putting these things up do not care about the people who have to live next to these things. There is no proof that they are safe. They will decrease property values. They are not a reliable source of energy & with all the pollution that goes into building & erecting these things, I do not believe that they are the answer to energy needs.

Alot of people on here are saying they would like to live next to a wind turbine but what they are trying to do in Goodhue county is put in hundreds of turbines. You would not be living next to 1 or 2, they will be every where. If this happens you will not only have to deal with the turbines but also massive power lines & they loss of some of the best farm land in MN. Plus all the saftey concerns that go along with having 400′ tall turbine a 1000′ from your house. Some concerns would be shadow flicker, low frequency noise, stray voltage & the fact that they can throw massive ice hunks off of the blades up to a 1/2 mile.

Wind energy is not the end-all solution to clean energy. What we really need to do is find ways to get off the grid.

Power lines go down in wind storms and blizzards–at times when we need electric power the most. If we claim to be such an advanced technological society, then why do we accept this?

Wind power lines require roads for maintenance, are being routed through sensitive areas, contribute to bat and bird kill, and can produce noise and vibrations. Power lines in general used herbicides to control undergrowth, and use wooden poles soaked in creosote.

In addition, the production of huge wind turbines require metals such as chromium and nickel which are being mined in senstive areas, and use oil and gas in production and in transportation from factory to field.

Instead of turning to wind projects that leave their own trail of problems, we should begin a clean energy future by using conservation and efficiencies. Government money should be spent in promoting research on new non-grid energy sources.

Seems like it would not be too hard to figure out how far a turbine should be from houses to have the noise at an acceptable level most of the time. We need to get away from fossil fuels. But in placing wind turbines we should consider safety of protected birds, too.

It couldn’t be any worse than the golf course I live next to.

Do real research.

Wind Farm the name is mis-leading.

It is “Industrializing” the land.

Your property values will plummet – even worse than they have been in this economy.

They produce a strob- effect. The “Swooshing” noice is inescapable.

The Strobe-Light all night makes it to where you need to purchace Black-Out Blinds.

The acres of trees that need to be chopped down is at min. 4 acres.

The migratory bats and birds that will be killed is sick.

The WindTurbine only lasts 20-30 years because the welds fail = the turbine will need to be removed and that would be at the land owners expence – look at your lease.

Wind Power is ineffective and not the answer.