Section 128.15. Shadow flicker.

 

(1)   Planning.

(a) The shadow flicker requirements in this section apply to a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building that exists when the owner gives notice under s. PSC 128.105 (1) or for which complete publicly-available plans for construction are on file with a political subdivision within 30 days of the date on which the owner gives notice under s. PSC 128.105 (1) .

(b) An owner shall design the proposed wind energy system to minimize shadow flicker at a residence or occupied community building to the extent reasonably practicable.

(c) An owner shall use shadow flicker computer modeling to estimate the amount of shadow flicker anticipated to be caused by a wind energy system and shall design the wind energy system so that computer modeling indicates that no nonparticipating residence or occupied community building will experience more than 30 hours per year of shadow flicker under planned operating conditions.

(2)   Shadow flicker limits. An owner shall operate the wind energy system in a manner that does not cause more than 30 hours per year of shadow flicker at a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building. If a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building experiences more than 30 hours per year of shadow flicker under the wind energy system's normal operating conditions, the owner shall use operational curtailment to comply with this subsection.

(3)   Shadow flicker mitigation.

(a) An owner of a wind energy system shall work with an owner of a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building to mitigate the effects of shadow flicker to the extent reasonably practicable.

(b) An owner shall provide reasonable shadow flicker mitigation at the owner's expense for a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building experiencing 20 hours or more per year of shadow flicker.

(c) An owner shall model shadow flicker and a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building is eligible for mitigation if computer modeling shows that shadow flicker at the nonparticipating residence or occupied community building will be 20 hours or more per year. An owner of a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building is not required to document the actual hours per year of shadow flicker if modeling indicates the nonparticipating residence or occupied community building is eligible for mitigation. A nonparticipating residence or occupied community building that experiences 20 hours or more per year of shadow flicker based on records kept by the resident of a nonparticipating residence or the occupant of an occupied community building shall also be eligible for mitigation.

(d) An owner may provide shadow flicker mitigation for any residence or occupied community building in addition to the mitigation required under par. (b) .

(e) The requirement under par. (b) to mitigate shadow flicker applies when the owner receives a complaint or request for mitigation regarding shadow flicker for an eligible nonparticipating residence or occupied community building. If shadow flicker mitigation is required, the owner of the wind energy system shall allow the owner of the nonparticipating residence or occupied community building to choose a preferred reasonable mitigation technique, including installation of blinds or plantings at the wind energy system owner's expense.

(4)   Waiver. Upon request by an owner of a wind energy system, an owner of an affected nonparticipating residence or occupied community building may relieve the wind energy system owner of a requirement under sub. (2) or (3) (b) at the affected nonparticipating residence or occupied community building by written contract with the wind energy system owner. Unless otherwise provided in a contract signed by an owner of an affected nonparticipating residence or occupied community building, a waiver by an owner of an affected nonparticipating residence or occupied community building is an encumbrance on the real property and runs with the land until the wind energy system is decommissioned, and shall be recorded under ch. 706 , Stats.

(5)   Notification.

(a) Before entering into a contract under sub. (4) , a wind energy system owner shall provide notice of the requirements of this section to individual owners of an affected nonparticipating residence or occupied community building.

(b) Before the initial operation of the wind energy system, a wind energy system owner shall provide notice of the requirements of this section to an owner of a nonparticipating residence or occupied community building within 0.5 mile of a constructed wind turbine that has not entered into a contract under sub. (4) .

CR 10-057 : cr. Register February 2011 No. 662 , eff. 3-1-11.