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Action Alert: Support the Columbia Wind Project
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently accepting public input on the Columbia Wind Project, which would include up to 47 turbines and create about 277 MW of power near Columbus, Wisconsin (docket 98-36-CE-100).
Submit a Written Comment
Deadline: November 20, 2026
See an example comment and talking points below
Attend a Public Hearing
November 10th at 2 PM and 6 PM
Via Zoom and Savanna Oaks Community Center, 100 Savanna Road
Fall River, Wisconsin, 53932
Supporting 100% clean energy will bring significant local health and economic benefits to Wisconsin. Wind turbines produce electricity with zero emissions - no particulate matter, no nitrogen oxides, no benzene, and no mercury is released into the air. Columbia County already hosts one of Wisconsin’s largest fossil fuel plants near Portage. This coal plant was set to retire in 2024, but that has been delayed twice, and recently doubled the amount of emissions it releases. That delayed retirement harms our health and our wallets, as fossil fuels are more expensive as a new energy source for our bills than clean energy.
A study of a full clean energy buildout for Wisconsin found that in-state renewable production could prevent thousands of asthma and respiratory cases and hundreds of premature deaths every year while saving billions annually in health costs statewide. Every wind project Wisconsin builds is a step toward those health benefits.
In addition to health benefits, the Columbia Wind Project is projected to bring in roughly $1.39 million a year in utility aid payments. This, combined with a joint development agreement, provides real money for Columbia County that can be used for rural EMS, K-12 Education, public transit, and other community needs.
Powering Wisconsin with clean energy also builds independence and resilience in Wisconsin. The Columbia Wind Project will produce electricity with no fossil fuel imports. Supporting wind energy means we are less dependent on out-of-state and foreign fossil fuels, allowing Wisconsin to gain greater energy independence and greater resilience during extreme weather or economic shocks.
Any comments, even if you only have time for a sentence or two, are impactful!
Example Comment
This is a long example; to provide options for people to copy any lines they feel strongest about.
First Name: Jane Last Name: Doe, DNP (Note: add your health credentials to your name when submitting)
“As a concerned [citizen/health professional/parent…] I am asking the PSC to support 100% clean energy and approve the Columbia Wind project (docket 9836-CE-100). Wind energy is one of the cleanest, safest ways to generate electricity, and it doesn’t release particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, or other pollutants that harm our lungs, hearts, and kidneys the way fossil fuel plants do. Columbia County already hosts a large fossil fuel plant, whose retirement has been delayed twice. By intentionally adding 100% clean energy power generation in the same county, families could directly benefit from the elimination of fossil fuel emissions. The Columbia Wind project could prevent over $2 million in health-related harms through PM2.5 and ozone reductions in the first year alone.
Supporting Wisconsin’s energy independence with wind energy is better than sending billions of dollars out of state every year to import fossil fuels. Wind energy is one of the lowest-cost sources for new electricity, with no fossil fuel costs that swing with national and global markets. Supporting 100% clean energy would bring real, lasting financial benefits to Columbia County and the towns hosting the turbines. Under Wisconsin’s utility aid program, a project this size will pay the county and host towns over the lifetime of the project. This money can go towards local governments for roads, fire service, or property tax relief without raising taxes on residents.
Every project that is built as 100% clean energy in Wisconsin is serving Wisconsin residents and electricity customers. For Wisconsin residents, climate change threatens our economy and is “the single biggest health threat facing humanity,” according to the World Health Organization. Generating power with wind energy can help alleviate health impacts to our communities.
Please support 100% clean energy and help Wisconsin build the homegrown clean energy our state needs.
Thank you,
< Your name >
Talking Points
Because of the significant local and statewide benefits of wind energy, we are asking the PSC to support the transition to 100% clean energy with this project. Click the arrow on each point below to see more details.
Health and safety - Wind energy generates electricity without the water and air pollution associated with fossil fuel plants. (Click the arrow for more)
Unlike methane gas or coal plants, wind turbines produce electricity with no combustion and no smokestack emissions - no particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, or benzene, and no mercury is released into the surrounding air. Exposure to poor air quality is a leading risk factor for early death.
The potential PM 2.5 and ozone pollution prevented by the Columbia Wind project could result in $2,790,000 in avoided healthcare costs.
Air pollution from fossil fuel plants negatively affects almost every organ system. It has been shown to cause preterm births, stillbirths, delayed cognitive development in children, asthma, heart attacks, COPD, cancer, strokes, and dementia. Wind energy avoids those harms entirely. Medical research shows there is no safe level of particulate matter for human health.
A 2019 study of Wisconsin’s energy system found that in-state clean energy production could prevent thousands of asthma and respiratory cases and hundreds of premature deaths every year. Electrifying all possible energy use in Wisconsin and powering it with renewables would save nearly 2,000 lives each year and ~$20 billion in health costs.
Wisconsin’s wind siting rules already cap turbine noise at 50 decibels in the daytime and 45 at night. This is comparable to a quiet residential street. Siting rules also limit shadow flicker to about 20 hours a year for nearby homes.
A joint review by the University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa Policy Project, and Iowa Environmental Council concluded there is little scientific evidence that sound from wind turbines is a risk to the health of the neighboring residents. The evidence found no causal link between turbine sound and hearing loss at any distance.
Greater Affordability and Reliability
Wind energy is one of the cheapest sources for new energy production, as low as $37/MWh versus $129/MWh for new fossil fuel energy production. Wind is a low-cost way to keep Wisconsin’s energy bills down.
A recent September 2026 study from Greenline Insights found that blocking wind and solar energy production could cost Wisconsin households up to $2,000+ by 2040 (about $5 billion statewide).
A true commitment to a reliable, diverse energy grid means embracing homegrown wind alongside solar and storage.
Wind and solar can be less vulnerable to failure during extreme weather than gas plants, which face documented reliability problems during winter storms and heat waves. Both are the exact conditions that Wisconsin’s grid is increasingly facing.
Revenue, Jobs, and Community Benefits
Utility aid payments equal $5,000 per megawatt per year: a $2000/MW production capacity payment (split between county and towns) plus a $125,000/MW incentive payment to both county and town.
These payments are separate from any joint development agreement Columbia County negotiates directly with Columbia Project LLC, which can add further community benefits like decommissioning bonds, fire department support, and road repair funding before construction ever begins. School district payments, or construction-impact funding, could also be added on top of the statutory utility aid.
Because the Columbia Wind Project is sized above the state’s 100MW threshold, the PSC - not Columbia County- holds the siting authority. We ask the Commission to weigh the strong local economic case for this project alongside its environmental review.
Investing in wind and solar creates roughly 1.5 times as many jobs as fossil fuel investment per dollar spent. These jobs may be from construction, operations, and maintenance that stay in the local community.
Climate Benefits
The Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change has explicitly recommended avoiding all new fossil fuel infrastructure for electricity generation. Approving projects for 100% clean energy is how Wisconsin actually gets there.
The extreme weather events Wisconsin is already experiencing, like historic droughts, floods, and heat, will continue to worsen unless the state cuts greenhouse gas emissions rapidly. Adding clean power generation is a direct, in-state way to do that, offering us energy independence.
According to analysis conducted by RENEW Wisconsin, using the EPA’s AVERT tool, the Columbia Wind project is estimated to avoid more than 1.28 billion pounds of CO2 in the first year by displacing generation from fossil fuel plants across the region. That continues every year for the life of the project.
