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Wind Power News: Kansas
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational mission 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. The original articles, links to which are provided, may have additional links and photos and other media that were not included here.
Brown County Commission Minutes
March 28, 2022 The Board of Brown County Commissioners met in regular session with the following members present: Chairman Lamar Shoemaker, William Pollock, and Richard Lehmkuhl. Also present was Brown County Clerk, Dawn Boyles. County Attorney, Kevin Hill, was present for a portion of the meeting. Lamar Shoemaker opened the meeting at 8:10 a.m. All recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Shane Spangler led the meeting with a prayer. Bob Hamilton, KDOT Liaison, presented the Brown County Sheriff’s Department with . . . Complete story »
Transformer problem shuts down wind turbines
ERIE – A transformer malfunction has caused an outage at the Neosho Ridge Wind energy facility that Neosho County commissioners discussed Tuesday. Commission Chair Gail Klaassen said she was contacted by Kelly Price with Neosho Ridge who said operator Liberty Utilities had reported the outage. The issue has shut down electric generators in the wind turbines and put out aviation warning lights. Klaassen said officials are working on the problem but do not have a timeframe for repair. Commissioner Paul . . . Complete story »
Seeking wind farm answers
Commissioners learned some answers to the most looming questions about the High Banks Wind project in a meeting Monday with project manager William Wilkens and NextEra Energy attorney Alan Anderson. Washington County commissioners and county attorney Elizabeth Baskerville Hiltgen listened to the meeting via phone; the meeting was held in Belleville during Republic County’s commission meeting. Wilkens said contractors could start to mobilize for construction by this December, with plans for the wind farm to be operational by December 2023. . . . Complete story »
County will not sign road agreements with industrial wind turbine developers
OSWEGO – The Labette County Commission on Monday voted 2-1 to refuse to sign any road agreement with any industrial wind turbine developer. The vote came after Commissioner Terry Weidert reviewed with commissioners what he heard from constituents in a series of four town hall style meetings in his district. He said of the people who spoke about wind turbines in the four communities, all but one opposed industrial wind development. Toward the end of his review, Weidert made a motion . . . Complete story »
Kansas bill targeting property tax breaks for wind farms fails in committee vote
Another in a series of bills criticized as an effort to end development of wind farms in Kansas failed to make it out of committee Thursday. The bill was introduced by Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican and chairman of the Senate Utilities Committee, who has proposed a number of bills critics say are attempts to stymie renewable energy development dressed as efforts to protect rural Kansas. In February, Thompson set aside an entire week of committee meetings to hear . . . Complete story »
Kansas bill would require wind farms to minimize blinking lights
Residents of the Kansas prairie asked legislators Wednesday to restore the night sky they say is dominated by red blinking lights from industrial wind turbines. “One of the greatest things about living in rural Kansas is being able to enjoy the night sky, the moon and the stars … the red blinking lights have taken that away from us,” said Shenan Cline, a Marshall County resident. In recent decades, windswept Kansas has become a hotspot for wind energy development. The . . . Complete story »
Cherokee County residents discuss pros/cons of proposed windfarm
COLUMBUS, Kans. – Cherokee County commissioners hold a public meeting to hear *more* of what folks have to say about a potential wind farm project. The meeting took place Monday night at the County Courthouse in Columbus. That’s where residents also had the opportunity to hear from Neosho County officials about their experiences with a windfarm that’s already in operation there. Cherokee County Commission Board Chair, Cory Moates, says the meeting is just as important for fellow commissioners, as it is . . . Complete story »
Kansas bill could require light mitigating technology on wind turbines
LABETTE COUNTY, Kan.–Some Southeast Kansas residents say they’d like to see the state do more to limit the annoyance of wind turbine lights. “We were traveling home from doing some industry work and came upon one on one highway to head home towards Mound Valley, Kansas. and we noticed just a bunch of red flashing lights that just went miles from about this view,” said Debbie Cramer. Cramer is a concerned resident of Labette County, she says the lights from . . . Complete story »
Legislation would bring standardized regulation to wind farms
Kansas – like most states – is a mish-mash, patchwork quilt of regulations on wind farms, with each county setting its own requirements. If Kansas Senator Mike Thompson is successful, a new bill will change that situation. Thompson, (R-Shawnee), introduced Senate Bill 353 – similar to last session’s SB279 – which would impose statewide regulations on new wind developments. Thompson said in a recent phone interview that this is a health and safety bill for Kansas residents who are affected by wind turbines. Among . . . Complete story »
County Commission hears request from Invenergy on road use agreement
The Brown County Commission heard from two Invenergy company officials on road use agreements at Tuesday’s regular meeting. Invenergy is worldwide company offering clean energy options that include wind, solar, natural gas and more. The company is currently laying transmission lines for the Grain Belt Express project across Kansas and company officials came to the Brown County Commission to introduce the topic of road access agreements. Company official Jason Brown, along with Invenergy attorney Andrew Schulte presented an update on . . . Complete story »
