The developers of the proposed Badger Hollow Wind Farm near Livingston will argue their case for approval from the state Public Service Commission later this year.

The hearings on Badger Hollow’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity application will be held in Madison June 17 and in Linden June 24.

The proposed 118-megawatt wind farm to be built by Invenergy of Chicago would feature 19 wind turbines 574 to 656 feet tall in the Grant County towns of Clifton and Wingville and the Iowa County towns of Eden, Linden and Mifflin, connected by a 345,000-volt tie line, with an additional collector station.

The turbines would be located in a jagged line from east of Cobb to south of Cobb to the American Transmission Co. Hill Valley substation in Montfort, then south past Livingston to northeast of Rewey. The Hill Valley substation is part of the Cardinal–Hickory Creek power transmission line project.

The PSC sent a letter April 11 saying that PSC and state Department of Natural Resources found in a joint environmental review that “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment are likely to occur because of the construction or operation of this project.”

The PSC/DNR determination means the agencies will not do an Environmental Impact Statement, a more detailed environmental review.

The PSC letter said the turbines would produce no more than 44 decibels f sound, below the PSC noise standards of 50 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night.

The PSC letter said blade flicker, which “some individuals may feel extremely affected while others experience little distraction,” would be expected for 29 hours 47 minutes per year. The letter says the developer is “willing to evaluate options such as vegetative buffers, blinds, and/or turbine curtailment to reduce shadow flicker” if mitigation is needed, including for “non-participating residences or occupied community buildings that receive more than 20 hours of shadow flicker per year.”

The letter said the project is “not expected to have a significant impact on rare species during the construction or operational phase,” including on bats and birds.

The PSC letter said the project would “affect the aesthetics of the area for as long as it is in operation which may be looked at favorably or unfavorably depending on the viewer.”

The deadline for public comment on the environmental review was May 2. One person who commented was Gina Metelica of Platteville, who said the Driftless Region and its sensitive karst geology should not “become a Sacrifice Zone.”

Metelica said in testimony to the PSC that wind farm projects were put on hold in two other areas with karst geology — the Timberwolf Wind Project in Fillmore County, Minn., which was supposed to become operational in 2023, and the Republic Wind Farm in Ohio, which was canceled after 27 of 47 wind turbines were to be located on “areas exhibiting karst features.”

Metelica said the vibrations from wind turbines in karst areas “can accelerate the collapse of sinkholes and impact ground water flow. Construction activities such as driving piles for turbine foundations can generate higher vibration levels which can impact groundwater flow to surrounding wells or the water quality,” including in areas with abandoned lead and zinc mines.

The PSC’s Madison hearing on Badger Hollow will be held in the Hill Farm State Office Building, 4822 Madison Yards Way, Tuesday, June 17 at 10 a.m.

The PSC then will hold a public hearing at the Village of Linden Community Building, 460 Main St., Tuesday, June 24 at 2 and 6 p.m.

Both meetings will be able to be viewed on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/my/pschearings. The meeting will also be shown at www.youtube.com/@PSCWI-Hearings. Those who can’t access the internet will be able to access the meeting audio by calling 312-626-6799 and entering meeting ID 809-513-2930.

The PSC meeting notice says that due to “technical limitations at the Linden hearing location” Zoom may not be able to be used. A notice on Zoom in Linden will be posted at https://apps.psc.wi.gov/apps/Calendar/External/HearingDetails/55.

Comments may also be written by June 26 at https://apps.psc.wi.gov/pages/publicCommentCase.htm?util=9827&case=CF&num=100. or mailed to Docket 9827-CE-100 Comments, Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 7854, Madison, WI 53707-7854.

The proposed Badger Hollow Wind Farm is east of Red Barn, built by Allete Clean Energy of Duluth, Minn., which has 28 turbines producing 92 megawatts. The wind farm is 90 percent owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of Green Bay and 10 percent owned by Madison Gas & Electric.

Red Barn, which began operation in 2023, has been the source of complaints including health effects. The blade of a Red Barn turbine separated from its hub on Annaton Road west of Livingston last September. Two other Red Barn turbines have flaws in blades.

The Badger Hollow project is one of four proposed for this area.

The largest proposed area wind farm is Pattern Energy’s Uplands Wind project, with a map submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration in April that showed 181 possible locations for wind turbines in the 600-megawatt $1 billion project. According to the FAA map three wind turbine locations are immediately west of the Platte Mound and two are south of the Mound between Lafayette County B and U.S. 151. Other locations are near Belmont Mound State Park.

Allete proposed building the Whitetail Wind project in the Town of Clifton, which would install 21 2- to 4.2-megawatt wind turbines to generate 70 megawatts of power east of Red Barn. However, Allete sold the project to Invenergy, the builder of the Badger Hollow Solar Farm east of Montfort, which proposing building the Badger Hollow Wind Farm near the solar project.

Allete’s PSC application lists the towers as 410 to 650 feet tall from ground to the tip of the top blade, with rotor diameter of up to 492 feet. The application said Whitetail Wind is negotiating with a wind turbine supplier “and will confirm the final number and model(s) of turbines” for the project when negotiations conclude.

Allete’s Whitetail Wind application said it has “formal leases/easements” with landowners for more than 5,000 acres in the 12,793-acre project site.

Seven turbines are slated to be located on Wisconsin 80, five on Rock Church Road, four on Grant County E, two on Old 80 Road, one on New California Road, one on Hickory Grove, and one off Hopewell Road, according to the application. Two meteorological towers also would be built on four locations — two off County E, one north of Crow Branch Lane and one west of 80 just south of the north Livingston village limits.

Whitetail Wind does not require a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the PSC because the project is smaller than 100 megawatts, according to the application.

Liberty Utilities, a subsidiary of a Canadian utility, is proposing a 30- to 40-turbine project, with turbines up to 656 feet tall, to generate 200 megawatts of electricity in western Grant County. The proposed project area is south of U.S. 18 west of Wisconsin 133 and along Wisconsin 35/133 and generally west of Grant County J.