ANDERSON — It all depends on 11 miles per hour.

A few variances in the wind speed near Elwood could determine whether a windmill farm comes to Madison County.

E.ON, a wind energy company that recently put up 600 wind turbines in Texas, has approached Madison County officials about the northwestern section of Madison County north of Elwood, showing interest in building a windmill farm at the location.

During Tuesday’s meeting of the Madison County Planning Commission, the board voted on an ordinance to regulate the use of land for windmill farms.

Cory Wilson, county planning director, explained that it will take E.ON two years of monitoring wind speeds before it will make a decision about building a farm north of Elwood, but the county wants to be ready for that day.

E.ON is considering building between 130 and 300 windmills. The windmills would also be located on land that straddles Tipton, Grant and Howard counties in the northwest portion of Madison County.

Using a template from an ordinance in Benton County, which now has hundreds of wind turbines, the council established rules about setbacks, tower heights, road repairs and the variances needed for a windmill farm in the county.

This, Commissioner Paul Wilson said, does not mean the county supports the windmill farm. “The design of this ordinance is not to attract or detract windmills.”

Commissioner John Richwine argued that the regulations in the ordinance might even make Madison County less attractive to windmill developers due to its strict guidelines to protect county residents.

A permit to erect a meteorological tower to measure wind speeds was approved by the county last week, Cory Wilson said. It will be 200 feet tall, will resemble a radio tower, and will be placed at the intersection of Indiana 13 and County Road 1400.

Over the next two years, E.ON will monitor the data and decide whether northern Madison County and its surrounding areas are suitable for a wind farm.

Rodney Flora of E.ON said a main consideration for the company is the terrain. In order for optimum wind speed, the terrain needs to be flat, or table-top, as the industry calls it.

“We still do not know whether we have a project or not,” Flora said. The wind speeds will determine if the project can happen, but the response from the community will have a lot to do with whether or not the project moves forward.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, 10 residents living in the affected area questioned commissioners about the farm.

Chad Kelich was frustrated with county officials for not doing more to notify residents about the possible wind farm. “If the farm actually comes to be, there needs to be more public info than what there has been.”