More energy questions 

Former Carroll County Judge E. Richard Williams, who lives on County Road 905, has questioned the lack of public notice for a project that would change this rural hilltop region from a quiet agricultural area into what he sees as a major industrial blight. Williams said he only learned about Nimbus about a month ago when a neighbor told him she was asked about leasing an area to Scout for the project.

“Why all the secrecy?” Williams asked. “If I hadn’t gotten that call from my neighbor, this would still be a secret.”

Williams said it isn’t right that current Carroll County Judge David Writer has been meeting privately with Scout to come up with a Road Use Agreement (RUA) as CR 905 would need improvements, such as widening, in order to transport long, heavy windmill blades and tower components. Writer has said it is normal for county judges to not have meetings involving legal agreements open to the public. He has also said there is nothing he can do to stop the project. Carroll County does not have zoning, land use regulations, or building codes.

Williams met with Writer last week to discuss the RUA and other issues regarding the project. Williams said he left Writer, who has been county judge since the first of the year, a packet of information including the custody and responsibility of county property. Williams said the 2022 County Judges Procedural Manual published by the Arkansas Association of Counties states on page 50 that the county judge shall have custody of county property and shall be able to lease or loan only to other political entities and non-profits. Williams said county judges are prohibited from leasing any county property to a private sector entity.

Scout Senior Development Manager Dave Iadarola wrote in an email to the Independent that Scout will not be leasing any county roads during construction.

“Scout is negotiating a road use agreement with Carroll County to ensure that all roads used during the construction are either temporarily improved or returned to the same condition they were prior to construction of the Nimbus Wind Farm. We utilize these agreements to ensure the equipment can be delivered safely and the county is protected from making any unnecessary repairs or improvements caused by the project. All of Scout’s previous projects have included these road use agreements.”

In a previous article on Nimbus, an opponent questioned why the financial information tab on Scout Clean Energy’s website had no information. Iadorola wrote that Scout Clean Energy was acquired by Brookfield Renewable and the purchase was finalized in December 2022.

“Scout will continue under the Scout Clean Energy brand name as an independent power producer,” Iadorola wrote. “Scout’s portfolio includes approximately 1,200 megawatts operating and under construction wind assets, and a pipeline of over 22,000 MW of wind, solar and storage projects across 24 states. Scout is well positioned to invest over $300 million dollars in the Nimbus Wind Farm and Carroll County.”

Williams questioned what might happen in ten years when federal energy tax credits for wind generation expire. Investor Warren Buffett has said these large wind projects aren’t financially viable without the federal tax credits.

“If these wind tax credits are gone in ten years, will the windmills still be financially viable?” Williams asked. “If not, will this company shut them down in ten years? If that happens, who is going to pay the property taxes on these turbines with an estimated value of $2 to $4 million each?”

Williams said that using a median value of $3 million, property taxes for wind turbines in the Alpena School District would be $27,660 per year. In the Green Forest School District, it would be $29,100 per wind turbine. If you have three wind turbines on your property in the Green Forest School District, the tax bill would be $87,300 per year. Williams said those figures came from the Carroll County Tax Assessor’s office.

Williams is also concerned about the new CECC transmission line being built about a mile down the road from him because more electricity is needed in the area.

“My concern is where the wind farm transmission lines are going to cross the CECC transmission lines,” Williams said. “Will the overhead lines be above or below the Nimbus lines? Or will the Nimbus wind transmission be underground? That is the safest thing to do is to have them underground because that would help prevent the arching of transmission lines that has caused huge wildfires in California.”

Williams has also raised concerns about difficulties fighting fires on structures more than 500 feet tall, and how the towers could be impacted by forest fires started by lightning or brush burning.