Iowa's wind energy in USA Today

[Debi]

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060224/a_windmills24.art.htm

MASON CITY, Iowa — Windmills are sprouting on hillsides across the Midwest, but this city is encouraging the use of electricity-producing wind turbines everywhere — even in homeowners' backyards.

Mason City this week became the first Iowa town to set rules that allow windmills in commercial, industrial and residential zones. The City Council unanimously approved the ordinance Tuesday.

City planner Tricia Sandahl says the council initially considered permitting windmills only in industrial areas. “Then we decided, let's just take a bolder step,” she says. “We wanted to encourage small wind systems in residential areas. With electric prices going up, it just makes sense.”

A few generations ago, almost every farm around here had a windmill that generated enough energy to pump water or grind grain. Those old-fashioned windmills became extinct after rural electric cooperatives extended power in the 1940s. In the past decade, commercial wind farms sprouted as energy costs soared.

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I know Cedar Falls Utilities uses some wind energy and is working on corn/switchgrass.

How about other communities?