October 22, 2011
South Dakota

NextEra suspends South Dakota wind farm without power deal

By Andrew Herndon, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com 19 October 2011

NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE), the largest U.S. wind-energy producer, suspended the permitting process for a wind farm it’s developing in South Dakota until a customer for the power is found.

The company told the U.S. Energy Department to cancel an environmental review of its proposed 150-megawatt Hyde County Wind Energy Center, the agency said today in a statement. The review was initiated when NextEra requested permission to connect its plant to the grid.

NextEra “decided not to move forward” with the review “until we have greater clarity on several issues including securing a customer for the output,” Steve Stengel, a spokesman for the Juno Beach, Florida-based company, said today in an e- mail.

The energy producer has purchased the land and completed other “environmental field work” for the project, he said. NextEra may resume work on the wind farm later and would require a new environmental review, according to the statement.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/22/nextera-suspends-south-dakota-wind-farm-without-power-deal/