Eastern Idaho seeks to boost use of wind turbines

REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — Madison County planning officials in eastern Idaho are trying to make it easier for residents to put up small or commercial wind turbines.

The Zoning and Planning Commission finished work on a draft ordinance that would allow anyone who wants to erect a turbine to do so, while limiting height, noise, power lines, design and even color.

"It's an alternative energy source, and from what I understand, the numbers work out for themselves," Commissioner Kimber Ricks said.

Some residents in the region have already erected small, residential wind turbines, and Ricks said county commissioners are expecting "major interest in energy production from wind energy."

"The ordinance will provide some order to how they are built," he said.

Brent McFadden, planning and zoning administrator, said a public hearing on the proposed ordinance is likely in May or June. He said the commission decided a new ordinance was needed after two building permits for wind turbines were issued in error.

"I allowed several building permits (for wind turbines) to go in and I found out later that it was in violation of existing county ordinance," McFadden said. "This was my error and we wanted to correct it and allow people to put them in."

Currently, putting up a wind turbine is prohibited except in specific areas and only with a conditional-use permit.

The proposed ordinance is intended to allow anyone who wants a wind turbine to put one up while at the same time protecting the interest of neighbors, officials said.

A wind turbine committee worked with the Brigham Young University-Idaho physics department and the Idaho National Laboratory in devising the new ordinance.

Ed Williams, planning and zoning commission vice chairman and a member of the wind turbine committee, said winds in the area of 13 to 15 mph make wind energy feasible.

"We don't have oil or natural gas in Madison County, but we do have wind — so let's use it," Williams said.