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Wind Power News: Kansas
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Harvey County bans large-scale wind farms and solar farms
Companies will not be allowed to build wind and solar farms in Harvey County. The Harvey County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to ban commercial wind and utility-scale solar renewable energy projects in the county. The new regulation still allows personal wind and solar energy installations, such as those used at homes, and limited-scale solar construction. The Harvey County Planning and Zoning Advisory Board recommended a code change. With the county commission’s vote, it becomes official as soon as the legal . . . Complete story »
Marshall Wind Farm has ‘operational issue’
Turbines have not turned on the Marshall Wind Farm south and east of Beattie for the past month. A spokesman for the company said Friday that an “operational issue” led to the turbines being turned off temporarily. The 36-turbine wind project is owned by BHE Renewables of Omaha, Neb. Dan Winters, company spokesman, said BHE is “currently looking into a potential operational issue at the Marshall Wind Farm.” Complete story »
Community meetings & public hearing on second draft of revised wind farm rules coming later this month
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the second draft of its revised regulations for wind energy projects later this month, and a number of community meetings will take place before then to help educate the public. The process of revising the rules to better align with the new standards for solar projects approved by Douglas County leaders in May 2022 has been underway since the beginning of last year, though the county has had regulations . . . Complete story »
Wind farm project generates contention
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle will publish over the next several weeks that will address the pros and cons, the opposition and support for the wind turbine project. Anyone who would like to contribute their thoughts are invited to send them to writtenontheplains@gmail.com. The prospect of a 95-square mile wind farm going up in the southeast portion of Dickinson County has caused a rift among neighbors and families. Some see the . . . Complete story »
Battles over wind farms divide rural communities
Fierce battles are playing out around the country over how and whether renewable energy should be developed locally. The push for wind farms in rural Kansas has divided communities. Special correspondent and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell reports. Transcript: Catherine Rampell: Across Kansas, there are 4,000 wind turbines, and counting. But, as energy projects have expanded, so too has the controversy surrounding them. Michael Forth, Douglas County Rural Preservation Association: They have turned friends against each other. They have turned . . . Complete story »
In-depth: ‘No remediation’: A broken turbine in Kansas shows how wind companies evade responsibility
For Kansas state Rep. Carrie Barth, the broken turbine in Marshall County and its fiberglass debris scattered across farmland has confirmed one of the many loopholes industrial wind companies have to distance themselves from responsibilities to the residents who live in their shadow. “We have all of these bureaucracies to deal with health and environment, yet there’s no plan for remediating any problems that arise from these structures,” Barth told The Epoch Times. The wind turbine, which is a part . . . Complete story »
‘Over my dead body’: Backlash builds against $3 trillion clean-energy push
The federal government has ignited a green-energy investment spree that’s expected to reach as high as $3 trillion over the next decade. The road to spending that money, though, is increasingly hitting speed bumps from the likes of Gerry Coffman. About an hour southwest of Kansas City, she turned down a wind lease last year on a farm that has been in her family since 1866. Someone knocked on her door a few months later, paperwork in hand, and offered . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine blade damaged; cleanup continues
Clean-up continues several miles southwest of Frankfort after a wind turbine blade was damaged April 14 on an Irish Creek Wind tower, sending pieces of the blade into fields below. “We are aware of the wind turbine blade failure at Irish Creek Wind on Friday, April 14,” said Sara Cassidy, NextEra Energy Resources spokesperson, on Tuesday morning. “We believe this was an isolated incident and the cause is under investigation. We are conducting a thorough safety analysis, including drone inspections, . . . Complete story »
Lawmakers crack down on wind-turbine lights that flash all night
For pilots flying over rural America, a string of red lights flashing along the horizon is a warning that there might be a wind farm ahead. But for many residents on the ground, the lights are an eyesore that has ruined their view of the night sky and disrupted the bucolic stillness that defined their counties. “Imagine … red blinking stoplights…every night, all night long … and not in sync,” Gayla Randel, who can see the lights on more than . . . Complete story »
Gov. Kelly signs bills dealing with wind turbine lighting, Evergy charges
Gov. Laura Kelly announced Thursday she has signed a bill meant to reduce the appearance of blinking red lights on wind turbines. The law requires the installation of wind turbine light systems that are still visible to pilots but don’t ruin the night sky for Kansans living next to wind farms. There are about 4,000 wind turbines in the state. The House passed Senate Bill 49 118-6 in late March, after the Senate passed the bill 39-1 in February. The lights . . . Complete story »
