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Wind Power News: Minnesota
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.
Planned Minnesota wind farm to be moved farther from Jeffers Petroglyphs site
The Minnesota Historical Society and two Dakota bands have consented to a wind farm near the Jeffers Petroglyphs after the developer moved its turbines farther away from the ancient and sacred site. The Big Bend project near Comfrey would be one of the state’s largest wind farms, and it would be paired with a big solar array – a unique arrangement for renewable energy developments. The historical society and the the Upper and Lower Sioux Indian communities objected to the original . . . Complete story »
Copper theft from an Albert Lea farm wind turbine
ALBERT LEA, Minn. – Copper has become a hot commodity in southeast Minnesota in recent months. The metal was reported stolen earlier this week from a wind energy farm site near Albert Lea. Freeborn County Sheriff Sergeant Keith Bolinger tells KIMT they have taken several reports in the last month and a half of copper theft from various wind farms not only in Freeborn County but Mower County and Iowa. He says the sheriff’s office is taking specific actions as . . . Complete story »
Minnesota natural gas plant serves public interest better than renewable-resource alternatives, state Appeals Court rules
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld state regulators’ approval of a power company’s proposed $700-million natural gas power plant as being necessary and more reliable than renewable energy sources. The Aug. 23 ruling supporting construction of the estimated 525-MW Nemadji Trail Energy Center comes after a challenge from project opponents who said it would accelerate climate change impacts. The three-judge panel said Minnesota Power and the state commerce agency “offered extensive evidence and analyses that … transition to intermittent . . . Complete story »
Rock County gets wind farm
A 109-megawatt Walleye Wind farm has been approved for Rock County by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The wind project will include up to 40 turbines that will provide electricity to Minnesota Municipal Power Agency. Comissioner Joseph Sullivan said “this wind farm will continue to grow our carbon free energy sources that Minnesotans are asking for”. The Walleye Wind project is expected to bring up to 185 jobs during construction and up to four full-time positions after construction is complete. Complete story »
Copper theft from wind turbines causes thousands of dollars in damage
The Mower County Sheriff’s Office received multiple reports involving copper theft and property damage to wind turbines located in rural Mower County. The turbines are owned by EDF Renewable Services and are located in the 2600 block of 680th Avenue in rural Mower County. The sheriff’s office said five turbines in that area had damage done to them and copper wire stolen. Eight other turbines have also been damaged and had copper removed prior to this theft. The estimate on . . . Complete story »
Next generation wind turbines in Minnesota could be 60 stories high
WATERTOWN, S.D. – The blades of the giant propellers sprouting from cornfields look like they’re almost dragging on the ground. The Dakota Range 1 & 2 wind farm under construction near here will sport the largest turbines of any of Xcel Energy’s many wind projects – and even bigger turbines are on tap for southwestern Minnesota. The yet-to-be built Plum Creek project will feature turbines 655 feet tall when their blades are fully extended, about 160 feet higher than Xcel’s new . . . Complete story »
‘Cross The Line’: Controversial transmission line in Iowa trying to survive
A case study for the national renewable energy debate is happening right now in northeast Iowa. “I think everybody likes the idea of renewable energy. I certainly do. But there’s more to it than just the wind blows on turbines and makes power,” Mike Deutmeyer said, a dairy farmer in the right of way of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. The Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line plans to go from the Hickory Creek Substation in rural Dubuque County, to the Cardinal . . . Complete story »
Dickinson Co. Supervisors hear another update on Three Waters wind project
(Spirit Lake)– Dickinson County Supervisors this (Tues.) morning heard another update on the Three Waters Wind Farm project. It’s an expansion of an operation previously owned by Scout Clean Energy, which Three Waters has since purchased. The latest project extends into Jackson county. A representative with Three Waters told the supervisors this (Tues.) morning plans for the expansion are still quite fluid…Three Waters Update “So currently we’re working on securing additional land for the project as well as some preliminary . . . Complete story »
A clean energy proposal near a sacred Indigenous site divides a Minnesota community
Sitting among a sea of prairie grass in southern Minnesota is a 900-foot-long outcrop of red quartzite rocks covered in thousands of carvings – bison, turtles, and hunting tools – made by Indigenous peoples as far back as 7,000 years ago. It’s the largest group of Indigenous rock carvings in the Midwest. And the site, Jeffers Petroglyphs, is still used today by local native people as a sacred spiritual site for ceremony and prayer. But just down the road from the petroglyphs, . . . Complete story »
SW Minn. wind-solar hybrid project brings renewable hope, cultural concerns
A proposed wind and solar farm in southern Minnesota is vying to be the first of its kind in the state, if approved. But the project’s proximity to a cultural site that is sacred to many Native Americans has historic preservation officials and tribal leaders anxious about its impacts. The Apex Clean Energy company’s proposal would install about 55 turbines for the Big Bend wind project and solar panels on more than 480 acres of nearby land for the Red . . . Complete story »
