Wind Power is a reasonable supplemental alternative power source.  We realize that wind alone will not fill our national or global energy needs, but it is a good power generation tool to complement other sources.  Wisconsin has mostly Class 3 and Class 2 wind resources, which does not make us a preferred area for large scale wind development.  There are locations, primarily along the Niagara Escarpment, that have been/are being developed.  One of the biggest factors for commercial development is not the wind itself, but the availability of transmission lines that can deliver the energy produced to the load.  In this respect we are often better equipped than locations in other states that have a better wind resource.

It's fairly windy here (at our home), but neither of us is excited about climbing towers to maintain windmills.  The good ones are fairly expensive and we would absolutely need grid tie or a large battery bank as wind alone would not meet our needs.  Here the winds are strongest in winter, spring and fall, but our biggest electric draw comes in high summer for air conditioning, at which time the winds seem to stall out (this, of course, makes solar electric more attractive).  Our winds also tend to be more gusty, which creates more wear and tear on the equipment.  Many generators on the market are now equipped to deal with variable winds, and many also use lower speed winds than in the past, but no wind, well, you'd better have a back up power source.

Even though we are not interested in installing our own personal wind system, we would welcome commercial turbines on our land. Combining wind systems with farmland makes environmental and economic sense.  It seems more logical to place turbines on land that has already been disturbed by farming, rather than disturbing virgin soil.  In most cases the farmer can continue to use the land around the turbine as normal.  This also provides a steady revenue stream to the farmer from the utility that leases the land for the turbines.  Farmers are always subject to the weather and the markets, so this type of income is appreciated.

Some people complain that wind turbines spoil the view or kill off birds.  Personally, I'll take a windmill over a coal strip mine any day.  I care about birds an other wildlife, the truth is a lot less birds die from run ins with wind turbines compared to other sources, the same goes for bats.  As for noise concerns, if the wind is already blasting away at high speeds, it's not all that quiet outside anyway.  I've been around the large turbines, and I find them a lot less noisy and annoying than most other background noise.  After a bit, what little noise there is simply fades into the background.

Sites for more wind information:

Wind Energy Basics from the American Wind Energy Association

What is wind energy, how does it work, and what does the terminology mean?  A good place to start, and the page is loaded with links to other resources.

Turbines Fit Well on Farm Land by Stewart Truelson

Brief overview of wind farms in the US and abroad, who's building them and why they work.

Tower Tech Systems - The first and only U.S. manufacturer dedicated and optimized from startup to exclusively mass-produce commercial scale wind tower support structures, turbine assemblies and monopiles.  Located nearby in Manitowoc, WI.  Keep an eye on this company - it looks like they've got a good business plan and are poised for dramatic growth in the coming years.

Yes2Wind  This is actually a British site, but it addresses many of the complaints about wind energy (bird kills, spoiling the view, noise) in a reasonable, well thought manner.