How Two Creeks became home to Wisconsin’s largest solar farm
TWO CREEKS – In the midst of rolling hills of tilled soil prepared by farmers and ready for spring planting lie fields of black solar panels glistening in the sun.
Two Creeks, a farming community of 500 located in the far northeast corner of Manitowoc County, might not immediately come to mind as a place for Wisconsin’s first large-scale solar farm. But the area is ideal, energy experts from state power companies say, and more are likely to pop up along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline in coming years.
Two Creeks Solar Park, near Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers, is a joint project for energy companies Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas and Electric. The solar park fits into WEC Energy Group’s plan to reduce emissions 70% by 2030 and make the company’s electric generation fleet net carbon neutral by 2050, according to Matthew Cullen, senior communications specialist for WEC, which owns WPS and six other energy Upper Midwestern companies.
The lakeshore farmland is ideal for generating solar power because it faces both south and east and is near the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, which has a robust transmission and distribution system for delivering power, said Cody Craig, asset manager of wind, solar and battery storage for WPS.
Enough open acreage was also available, he said.
“Once you have those pieces in place, building a solar farm is fairly straightforward,” he said.
There’s a weather station on site to monitor the best times to collect sun, he said. But don’t expect the good-paying jobs coal or nuclear plants provide – the solar farm is monitored remotely and WPS can send a technician from Green Bay to troubleshoot when needed.
“It is a different way of doing things,” acknowledged Two Creeks Town Chairman Lee Engelbrecht. “I think people understanding the industry is changing.”
‘I think they’re really ugly’
Although residents may understand, not all of them are happy about it.
“I think they’re really ugly,” said Becky Seibert, who lives adjacent to a field of solar panels on Irish Road. “I don’t like looking at them.”
She empathizes with the landowners who, during tough times for Wisconsin farmers, chose to sell or lease land to the energy companies, she said.
“Farms are facing big challenges just to make it these days,” she said. “If we owned enough land we might do the same thing. Do I like it? No. Do I understand it? Yes.”
Ken Frank, who owns the home Seibert lives in, where she works as his caretaker, said he has no problem with the nearby solar farm.
“What are farmers going to do?” he said. “They need to make a living.”
At least the surrounding land won’t be turned into housing developments while the solar farm operates, Seibert noted.
Chris and Pete Komorski, who live on Meyer Road and are surrounded by fields of solar panels, aren’t so accepting.
Chris Komorski said the noise and commotion during the eight months the solar farm was under construction were unbearable.
The construction crews are gone now, but she said they still hear noise from the panels when they turn to face the sun. Pete Komorski said the panels frighten their horses, and that he’s seen a number of animals, including deer and coyote, get stuck within the fenced-off solar fields.
“It’s really ruined our quality of life,” he said. “When we bought this house 11 years ago, it was wide open fields. We had no idea this was going to happen.”
Pete Komorski said his attorney estimates the value of their property fell by $100,000 with the addition of the solar farm.
“No one wants to live here now,” he said.
Still, Town Chairman Lee Engelbrecht said he’s heard few complaints about the solar farm.
“When WPS first came to talk to the town a few years ago, people had a few questions, but that’s about it,” Engelbrecht said. “It’s fine. I guess most people are accepting of it.”
WEC would not discuss terms of land lease deals for the solar farm.
Push for green energy
Scott Blankman, director of energy and air programs for the nonprofit Clean Wisconsin, points out the solar panels can be good for farmland ecosystems, as they are filled in with prairie or pollinator plants and grasses, thereby reducing runoff that comes with large fields used for agriculture.
Overall, he said solar farms have been accepted by the public.
“There are concerns about glare,” he said. “So solar farms tend to be set back, and trees or other barriers out in place to block them from roads. But that’s about the only complaints, I think.”
That wasn’t the case when wind turbines began popping up around Wisconsin in the early 2000s. Some folks worried spinning wind turbines could kill or harm birds and bats. A decade ago, residents near the Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County complained of health issues allegedly linked to lowfrequency noise emitted from the turbines. For years, residents protested or posted large signs opposing wind farms along country roads.
Brown County health officials conducted a study of residents living near the turbines, and couldn’t link any health issues with them.
Generally, the public is ready to embrace clean energy.
In June 2020, a Pew Research Center survey found 63% of Americans see the effects of climate change in their communities; 65% said the government is doing little to reduce the effects of climate change; and 79% want the country to prioritize developing alternative energy sources.
Wisconsin has a way to go to, Blankman said. In 2018, about 75% of the state’s power came from fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas.
Closures of large coal plants in the next three to four years, however, likely will expedite the move to clean energy. Blankman thinks a solar farm could replace the Edgewater Power Plant and generation station in Sheboygan, which is owned by WEC and expected to close by 2022.
He expects to see more solar farms developed throughout the state, other than in thickly wooded northern Wisconsin.
“As the price of solar panels comes down, it will become more competitive with fossil fuel energy,” Blankman said.