with Don Bain; Paul Gipe, Paul Gipe & Assoc.; and Lynn Hayes, Farmers Legal Action Group
The Guide is intended to address questions about the development of wind energy in the upper Midwest that the Izaak Walton League has received since completion of a 25 MW wind power plant in Southwestern Minnesota.
The Guide discusses how landowners can evaluate their wind resources, how they can evaluate the economics of wind power under a variety of development scenarios, and the contractual issues a landowner should consider when approached by a wind developer.
The Guide does not address all questions that may arise, nor is it a substitute for careful assessment by landowners of their wind development options. Rather, the Guide should be used only to identify some of the important questions a landowner will need to answer before making an investment in wind power or signing a contract with a wind developer.
Wind development in the upper Midwest of the U.S. is being fueled by the declining costs of wind generation, the increasing concern about pollution from conventional sources, a desire for the environmental benefits that wind power provides, favorable energy policies in Iowa and Minnesota, and the need for the economic development that wind power can bring to rural areas.
Copies of the Landowner’s Guide to Wind Energy, 49 pages in an 8 1/2 by 11 inch (A4) format, may be ordered from the Izaak Walton League at a cost of US$5.00 per copy (includes shipping and handling).
Established in 1922, the Izaak Walton League of America is a national conservation organization whose members work to protect America’s air, land, water, and wildlife. The League has about 45,000 members with state divisions from New York to California and more than 300 local chapters. The Izaak Walton League has played a leading role in to accelerating the development of wind energy in the Upper Midwest.
Nancy Lange is the Associate Director of the Izaak Walton League’s Midwest Energy Efficiency Program. Bill Grant is the Acting Director of the Izaak Walton League’s Midwest Office.
Don Bain is the author of the Windy Landowner’s Guide, a landmark work for the Oregon Department of Energy published in 1984. Paul Gipe is the author of three books on wind energy, including Wind Energy Comes of Age. Lynn Hayes is an attorney specializing in issues affecting rural development.
For more information or to order copies of the Landowner’s Guide to Wind Energy, contact: Izaak Walton League of America, Midwest Office, 1619 Dayton Avenue, Suite #202; St. Paul, MN 55104; ph: 651 649 1446; fax: 651 649 1494; midwestoffice@iwla.org.
