| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
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.
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 »
Kansas wind turbine hearing stirs up debate
Osage County (KSNT) – Osage County hosted a public hearing Thursday night allowing wind farms in the area. Dozens of resident on both sides of the issue packed the Osage County Courthouse to voice their opinions on the proposal. Proponents say installing a turbine farm would bring a huge economic boost to the community. A spokeswoman for the Auburn Harvest Wind Project says they’re ready to make an estimated $330 million dollar investment in Osage County. She said the company . . . Complete story »
Wind farm contracts may be coming
The county may be getting closer to approving wind farm contracts with NextEra. No information about the wind farms has come through the commission meetings for many months, though weekly discussions have been going on at the Republic County commission meetings. The proposed wind farm will be built along the county line with turbines going in both Washington and Republic counties. County… [rest of article available at source] Complete story »
County Commission to review wind energy rules
Members of the Harvey County Commission received a copy of a proposed Commercial Renewable Energy Project Regulations Sept. 23 as part of their agenda packet for the Sept. 27 meeting of the commission. The commission will receive a presentation on the Harvey County Planning Commission’s proposed amendments to the Commercial Renewable Energy Project Regulations and set a meeting date to consider the amendments to the regulations. The commission will not vote on the rules Sept. 27, the earliest that could . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine permit rules moving forward
Ron Dietzel of Newton has spent about a year going to Harvey County Commission and Planning and Zoning Board meetings – concerned about the possibility of the construction of industrial wind turbines in the county. “In Newton Township, where I live, there are 91 rural homes Within Kansas, Harvey County has one of the highest rural populations. There are close to 100 rural residences in 15 townships,” Dietzel said “… the high density rural population of Harvey County means there . . . Complete story »
