By Scott Williams • [email protected]

A group that includes wind farm supporters and opponents was named
Tuesday to recommend new statewide standards on wind energy
developments.

The state Public Service Commission named 15 people to serve on the
Wind Siting Council, which will study, among other things, how far
wind turbines should be located from nearby homes.

The council includes industry representatives Andy Hesselbach of We
Energies, Dan Ebert of WPPI Energy and Bill Rakocy of Emerging
Energies of Wisconsin LLC.

But it also includes Larry Wunsch, a homeowner who has been a vocal
critic of a wind farm developed near Fond du Lac by Invenergy LLC, the
same company planning a wind farm in southern Brown County. Wunsch was
featured in a Green Bay Press-Gazette article in January.

Other members of the new state panel include representatives from
Lakeshore Technical College, the University of Wisconsin and
environmental groups Renew Wisconsin and Clean Wisconsin.

It is not known whether the council will complete its work before
state regulators decide Invenergy's proposal for a wind farm in the
Brown County towns of Morrison, Glenmore, Wrightstown and Holland.