Wisconsin
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approves Portage County solar farm
At full capacity, the Vista Sands Solar Project is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 200,000 Wisconsin homes.
The Vista Sands Solar Project proposed for Portage County received approval Thursday from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
The solar project will be the largest of its kind in Wisconsin and among the most powerful in the country, generating nearly 1.3 gigawatts of electricity, a spokesperson for the project said Thursday afternoon in a news release. At full capacity, Vista Sands Solar will generate enough electricity to power over 200,000 Wisconsin homes.
More than half of the project, being built by Doral Renewables, will be in the Portage County town of Grant and most of the rest will be in the town of Plover, with a small section in the village of Plover. The county and communities will receive a total of $6.5 million a year in payments from the project.
“We are thrilled with the approval of the Vista Sands Solar Project by the PSCW,” said Jon Baker, vice president of development at Doral Renewables and project manager for the Vista Sands Solar Project, in the release. “This milestone marks an exciting new chapter for clean energy in Wisconsin.”
Baker went on to say that with years of careful planning and community engagement, approval of the project represents an opportunity for local economies in Portage County and a major step forward for Wisconsin in achieving its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The company is leasing the land from the owners, mostly farmers. It gives the farmers the chance to diversify their sources of income. Doral will remain the owner of the project. Once it reaches the end of its lifespan, the company will remove the panels and the land will still belong to the farmers.
Several conservationists and wildlife advocates had raised concerns about the project’s proximity to the Buena Vista Grassland State Wildlife Area, home of the state’s largest population of threatened prairie chickens, calling for one-half and one-mile setbacks between the solar arrays and the prairie chicken booming grounds.
The final Environmental Impact Statement on the project also cited concerns about the proposal’s likely negative impacts to the prairie chickens, even if mitigation suggestions are followed. The Department of Natural Resources and Public Service Commission’s final EIS, released July 15, did not require those benchmarks, however.
Vista Sands Solar says it will not construct any panels within 500 feet of greater prairie chicken booming grounds identified by the Wisconsin DNR, according to the project’s website.
Between 5,700 to 7,900 acres of agricultural lands in the vicinity of the Buena Vista Wildlife Area will be restored to grasslands, according to the project website. Vista Sands Solar’s ecologists have designed a seed mix that will be used across the project area, creating a suitable environment for both native wildlife and solar energy generation, according to the website.
Clean Wisconsin, an organization that works to combat climate change and pollution in the air, water and land, submitted analysis to the Public Service Commission that shows Vista Sands is also likely to have significant water benefits in Portage County, boosting aquifer levels and reducing contamination in the water-depleted Central Sands region. The solar farm is anticipated to take 56 high-capacity wells out of normal operation and will greatly reduce the estimated 3 million pounds of fertilizer and 73,000 gallons of insecticide currently spread across the project area every year, according to Clean Wisconsin.
“Today, the PSC approved the biggest step toward curbing Wisconsin’s carbon emissions in the state’s history,” Katie Nekola, Clean Wisconsin general counsel, said in a news release. “This is significant because Wisconsin cannot meet its carbon reduction goals or contain customer costs without acknowledging and indeed embracing the need to invest in the least-cost, cleanest generation available.”
Vista Sands Solar also was designed to avoid waterways and no impacts to drainage are anticipated in the project area, according to its website.
Doral representatives stated in 2023 they hoped to have the necessary approvals for the project by the end of 2024. It will take about two years to build the project.
Vista Sands Solar will bring a total capital investment of nearly $2 billion and create approximately 500 jobs during construction and about 50 permanent jobs, stimulating local economic activity that will benefit local businesses, according to a spokesperson for the project.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
Wisconsin
Rubber bullet carnage as 1,000 animal welfare activists storm beagle breeding lab in Wisconsin | Fortune
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists later moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized plans to seize the dogs Sunday but launched its operation a day earlier. The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested.
The sheriff’s department said a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup through the front gate of the property was arrested, “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
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