4/13/2009 10:23:00 AM Concerns raised about types of wind farms
DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTOThe Elkhorn Ridge Wind Facility near Bloomfield, the largest in the state at 80 megawatts, opened this year.
Massive wind farm proposed in area counties
Right now, row crops, pasture and cattle are common sights around Knox and Cedar counties.
In the future, massive wind turbines could be just as common, especially in eastern Knox and western Cedar counties.
At a recent informational wind energy meeting in Wausa, plans for a massive wind farm were shared by Midwest Wind Energy of Chicago.
Patrick Dalseth, project coordinator for the proposed wind farm known as "Elkhorn Ridge II," said there currently is a lot of interest in wind energy across Nebraska.
The proposed wind farm would stretch from the current Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm north of Bloomfield south in Knox County and east into Cedar County. Its location is based on a topography map that shows the areas of greatest wind in Knox and Cedar counties.
The size of the wind power facility, if realized, would be gigantic in comparison to the 40-turbine wind farm now online in Northeast Nebraska.
"It will be hard to estimate how many acres this new site will cover, but we do estimate it to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity when completed," Dalseth said.
Plans are to erect anywhere from 400 to 800 turbines.
"It just depends on how many landowners sign up," he said.
The landowners received $1,000 for signing a contract at the Wausa meeting. When 60,000 contiguous acres are signed up, the landowners would receive another $1,000.
It represents a cooperative agreement that is valid for five years. During that time, the landowner may not enter into a wind agreement with any other wind company. The lease, which pays the landowners a yearly lease payment, would be negotiated later.
The amount of the lease payment will be determined after enough cooperative agreements are signed.
"It is a great economic boost to Nebraska," Dalseth said.
Not only will there be payments to farmers and landowners for placing the wind turbines on their property, but construction jobs also would be created and, eventually, full-time wind farm operational specialists to run the new facilities.
Because of the large initial investment needed to get wind farms off the ground, Midwest Energy is partnering with Edison Mission and also a third-party funding source.
The electricity generated from the proposed wind farm would be sold outside of the state.
Not everyone is thrilled with a proposed wind farm project for land in Knox and Cedar counties.
Because of the large initial investment needed to get such a wind farm off the ground, Midwest Energy is partnering with Edison Mission and also a third-party funding source on this project.
It would not qualify as what's known as a C-BED project, which makes it it possible for landowners involved in the project to be investors in it, too.
With C-BED projects, after the initial 10-year lease agreement expires - which is when the original investment is paid off - the ownership of the wind farm flips back to the Nebraska investors and they own the project and garner the economic benefits as compared to corporate investors.
Those kinds of wind projects are truly be an economic boost for Nebraska, C-BED supporters say.
"We have to be careful to make educated decisions about wind energy," said Graham Christiansen of Nebraska Farmers Union. "Wind energy can have huge profits, but we don't want the money leaving Nebraska."
Christiansen said he is concerned about farmers and ranchers who are desperately looking for dollars to offset the high real estate taxes they're facing. Before signing away rights, make sure the fine print is read, Christiansen said he advises property owners.
"When our people talk to landowners about wind development, we always advise them to talk to several wind developers to make certain everything is comparable for leases and payments," said Beth Boesch, senior manager of government and public relations for NPPD. "They should always have an attorney available to read what they are signing. Forming wind associations with other landowners is a good avenue to go so all their interests and concerns are addressed."
Wind energy companies are talking to landowners all across the state because Nebraska's wind potential is ranked sixth in the nation, but the development process has lagged behind other states.
"Corporate America is seeing the opportunity of profit with the development of wind energy, and they don't share," said Chris Abbott of Gordon.
He is on the board of directors for Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska (ICON) and said he believes Nebraska, being the only state with total public power, needs to truly understand the wind industry before moving forward.
Ranchers in western Nebraska are forming wind associations to be in a better position to negotiate with the large wind developers.
Federal funds will possibly be available soon to help with the high costs of erecting transmission lines and erecting wind turbines. That's one more reason why Nebraska needs to decide how it wants to best proceed with wind energy, Abbott said.
"Outside investors want to do it all," Abbott said. "They don't want to deal with our public power state. And we won't get peanuts for the state's natural resource of wind if we don't set some guidelines."
Members of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee announced last week that they plan to supervise a comprehensive study on Nebraska's wind energy prospects and how best to proceed. Legislation then would be developed for consideration in the 2010 legislative session.
"NPPD has entered into 10 sites for wind-powered generation with hundreds of landowners across Nebraska," said John O'Connor, renewable energy development project manager at NPPD. "We were not invited to the meeting in Wausa, but we are actively speaking to landowner groups, county commissioners, city councils, zoning commissions and any interested parties."
O'Connor said his group's goal is to provide reliable and cost-effective renewable resources for the rate payers of Nebraska.
