Project calling for 30 more wind turbines in Madison County nixed

August 11, 2022 at 3:56 pm CDT

Wind turbines sprinkle the landscape near Bridgewater as part of Rolling Hills wind project in Adair, Adams and Cass counties. When it was built it was the largest wind farm in Iowa with 193 Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines. (CNA photo)

Additions in Madison County to an existing wind farm in Adair and Madison counties have been scrapped recently.

MidAmerican Energy had plans to add 30 wind turbines to the Arbor Hill Wind Farm but local opposition in Madison County has caused the company to reverse course.

A report in Winterset’s newspaper, The Madisonian, states that the Madison County Board of Supervisors limited the number of wind turbines that could be built in July, which gave way to a lawsuit. Landowners originally agreeing to be a part of the additional wind turbines in the project then received a letter stating the proposition had been canceled.

MidAmerican told KCCI TV that “After evaluating the changing parameters in Madison County, including the reduction in the number of wind turbines we could construct as part of the agreement, MidAmerican has determined that we are unable to move forward with the project.”