Environmental consultants can count the minutes a home is affected by the strobe-like flickers of a wind turbine’s shadow.
They can measure the decibels of the rhythmic thrum of turbine blades cutting through the air.
They can use those flicker and sound measurements to determine the best placement for wind farms.
But, wind farm developers argue, basing placement on those tests means sacrificing the one thing the industry needs to build in Wisconsin: certainty. Establishing setback distances would give developers that certainty, said Jim Naleid, managing partner for Holmen-based AgWind Energy Partners LLC.