Wind Power News: Kansas
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch 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.
‘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 »
Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission forms subcommittee to tackle revisions to wind farm regulations
During its Monday, March 20, 2023 meeting, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission formed a subcommittee to help tackle revisions to the county’s regulations for wind farms. It’s not yet clear what the next draft of Douglas County’s revised regulations for wind energy development will look like, but it is clear that the work to codify the updated rules is far from finished. At a meeting on Monday, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission discussed some of the changes it wanted to . . . Complete story »
Wind farms on hold in Harvey County
Harvey County has put the brakes on a proposed wind farm project. On Tuesday, county commissioners put a six-month moratorium on any renewable energy build in the county. “Well, there seem to be a lot of folks that don’t want it in the county, and I understand why,” said Harvey County Commissioner Don Schroeder. Schroeder says the issue of a commercial wind farm proposed for the western part of the county came up last year. He feels the County needed . . . Complete story »
Locations for wind turbines around Hope being evaluated
A wind farm developer has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to evaluate the placement of 123 wind turbines near Hope. The 95 square-mile footprint of the Hope Ridge Wind Project is primarily in Logan, Ridge, Union and Hope townships. Jon Beck, development manager for Enel Green Power, said the company plans to submit a proposed road maintenance agreement to Dickinson County this week. It anticipates requesting permits to build the turbines in the spring of 2023. Enel Green Power is . . . Complete story »
Bill would require Kansas wind farms to reduce blinking lights on turbines
Driving at night along Interstate 35 in Sumner County or similar stretches of rural roads across Kansas, you’ll see numerous blinking red lights meant to keep low-flying aircraft from crashing into wind turbines. Kansas senators are considering two bills to reduce the time the turbine lights spend flashing. The proposed laws would require existing and new wind turbines to have light mitigating technology systems installed. This means the blinking red lights would only turn on if an aircraft is detected . . . Complete story »
Planning Commission gets its first look at proposed amended regulations for wind farms
The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission heard its first presentation about amended regulations for wind farms in Douglas County Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. A draft of amended regulations for wind farms in Douglas County is now open for public comment, but the process of passing them will extend for three months and half a dozen more public meetings. To start with, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission heard what chair Sharon Ashworth described as a “thorough baseline” of the proposed amendments to . . . Complete story »
‘I don’t care about their personal choice’: Future of wind farm in Republic County in doubt
The fight over whether to allow a wind farm to move in next door is splitting another Kansas county down the middle. Dozens of families in Republic County are the latest to fight over a proposed NextEra wind farm moving in. Many say they’re worried the 650-foot-tall turbines will hurt their farms and damage their way of life. Some don’t want the farms at all. “I’m not going to stand here and talk about my personal choice to put these . . . Complete story »
