Northwest Iowa — With a large wind farm operating here in northwest Iowa, the effects of wind turbines on birds and other wildlife has caused some people concern. MidAmerican Energy Company has filed a plan with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how it will try to minimize the number of eagles and bats which are killed by its Wind turbines across the state.
MidAmerican spokesman, Geoff Greenwood, says the company began studying the issue back in 2014 along with federal officials and the Iowa D.N.R.
Iowa used to have much smaller windmills in the state that were used for pumping water, but in the last couple of decades thousands of giant wind turbine have sprouted across the state as an alternative fuel source. Greenwood says MidAmerican now operates more than 21-hundred turbines on 27 wind farms across Iowa, including here in our area. MidAmerican Energy generated about 50 percent of its Iowa customers’ annual use in energy through the turbines and plans to expand it to 100 percent by the end of 2021.
The studies showed wind turbines impact four species of bats: the Indiana, northern long-eared, little brown and tri-colored bats. The company says it has spent $15-million studying the issue. Greenwood says they believe they can cut the death of bats by adjusting the times when the wind is strong enough to make the blades of the turbines start spinning.
Bats are nocturnal, so the adjustments would be during the nighttime hours and other times identified when the bats are flying more often. When it comes to eagles, one of the measures would educate nearby residents the importance of not putting out food sources that could cause the birds to fly into the path of the turbines.
MidAmerican Energy also proposes to establish a $4.4-million dollar bat conservation fund and a $1.6-million dollar eagle conservation fund to support statewide mitigation projects to offset any impacts to those species. The company seeks a 30-year U.S. government permit to allow for an average of 10 turbine-related incidental bald eagle “takes” – or deaths – each year across its Iowa service territory. The company says that number would account for less than a half percent of the eagle population that could be affected by MidAmerican Energy wind farms.
Some of the steps the company is proposing — such as stopping the blades at certain times of the year — will lead to less energy production.
You can see the complete plan by CLICKING HERE.
