May 11, 2022
Minnesota

Dodge County Wind Project met with contention from landowners

By Darian Leddy | KTTC | May. 10, 2022 | www.kttc.com

An energy company is looking to build a wind farm and additional facilities in Dodge, Steele and Mower county to increase renewable energy.

Tuesday, The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Department of Commerce hosted a public information meeting in Kasson to share a bit more information on the project. it’s called the Dodge County Wind Project.

The project would bring 260 megawatts of clean, renewable energy to the area. The wind farm would be built just south of Claremont and span more than 27 miles of land.

The Dodge County Wind project director says the wind farm would benefit the community, bringing in about $400 million in investments in the counties.

“Project construction will support directly approximately 400 construction jobs employed by the project during construction. During operations it is expected that the project will generate between $970,000 and $1,180,000 in annual production taxes that will go to the counties,” NextEra Energy Resources project director Mark Lennox said.

But despite the money and jobs that could be brought in, some community members who own land around the potential construction site are concerned for land and wildlife preservation in the area.

“Southern Minnesota and specifically Dodge, Mower and Fillmore county has fatigued from these windmills. It’s time to create renewable energy where it’s consumed the most. Move it in to the city, mandate that new homes and businesses in large metro areas with millions upon millions of acres of rooftops have solar panels on their roofs,” Aaron Tempel, who owns 160 acres of wetland near the proposed project site, said.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/05/11/dodge-county-wind-project-met-with-contention-from-landowners/