New Idaho bill forces wind farms to get rid of ‘Red Light District’
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FIRTH — In April 2024, community members in Bingham County decided to speak up about light pollution. This year, their night sky will be considerably cleaner.
After less than a year of fundraising, campaigning, and raising awareness about the constant bright red lights on nearby wind farms, “End the Red Light District” got a new law passed in Idaho, prohibiting the lights from polluting their night sky.
On March 24, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 146 into law, which “requires the installation of light-mitigating technology systems on wind energy conversion systems.”
“We as a group can hardly believe it really happened,” says Lanette Ehlers, a lifelong Bingham County resident and the original organizer of the “End the Red Light District” campaign. “It was just so, so thrilling to see that a process can work, that hard work, a conviction, and your willingness to get out of your comfort zone for something you believe in for the community, can work. You can make a difference.”
Because of this bill, wind farms in Idaho will now be required to switch the technology used on their towers to use a “light-mitigating technology system” such as an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS).
According to North American Clean Energy, an ADLS is a “sensor-based system that monitors the airspace around a wind farm, activating the obstruction lights only when aircraft are within a defined buffer zone.”
This means the red blinking lights will now only be on for a fraction of the time they used to be, and only when airplanes are within a certain vicinity.
“We had a lot of support from the community because you know, the majority of people don’t like those red lights,” says Ehlers. “So once they saw that we were serious about going after it, then we got a lot of support, and we couldn’t have done it without the community.”
On and after July 1, 2025, no new wind energy conversion system will be allowed to commercially operate in Idaho unless it applies to the Federal Aviation Administration for installation of light-mitigating technology systems. In addition, after Jan. 1, 2026, a wind energy conversion system owner or developer that hasn’t switched to a new wind turbine system will be required to install a new, light-mitigating one.
The bill says that any costs associated with the installation, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the new technology will be the responsibility of the developer, owner, or operator of the wind energy conversion system.
On May 28, Little visited Shelley to celebrate the town being named “Capitol for a Day” and to congratulate the activists for their perseverance and strength in passing a bill that will improve the lives of their community members and the night sky.
According to Elhers, when she first started mobilizing the movement, her son, Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, decided he wanted to assist his mom in cleaning up the night sky. Jeff wrote and presented the bill to the legislature, which ultimately led to its passage.
“(Jeff) heard me talking for months about how I hated those red lights and how I had started a movement, and I would call him quite often, saying, Jeff, what do you advise? How do we approach this, you know, from a political standpoint?” says Lanette. “Jeff told me the protocol. He said, get your people to write their emails to all their legislators, and once it gets through legislation, it has to go through the Senate.”
The bill was co-signed by Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, and together they helped Lanette’s dream come to life.
To others who are hoping to start a movement or get a bill passed in their state, Lanette says it’s important to trust in your community and keep pushing.
“It’s extremely intimidating, especially when you’re up against the big company, or you’re up against government, it is intimidating because you know you are just a little nobody,” says Lanette. “But, man, I was just amazed that if you handle it professionally, that you don’t throw darts at people, you don’t bad mouth the system, you work in the system and work hard and keep it integral, and go after your cause, then you can make a difference.”