SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Senator Tim Johnson says construction can proceed on a wind energy farm in the Brookings area.
He says the Minn-Dakota wind farm would be the largest wind energy project in South Dakota.
Oregon-based P-P-M Energy plans to build a 150 megawatt wind farm straddling the Minnesota-South Dakota border. Two-thirds of its turbines would be in Minnesota and the rest in Brookings County. It would be almost four times bigger than South Dakota’s largest existing wind farm.
The power would go to Xcel (ek-SELL’) Energy.
Johnson says he contacted the Federal Aviation Administration several times this summer regarding the matter. He says the congressional delegation wrote the F-A-A in June urging the swift completion of the permit process.
Military officials had been concerned that the turbines might interfere with radar. The F-A-A looked into the Defense Department’s concerns.
Developers have only until the end of next year to take advantage of tax credits for their projects.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/09/01/johnson-says-brookings-wind-farm-is-a-go/