Wind Energy Opponent Disputes Attorney General’s Interpretation of the Law

Member of Jefferson County Wind Watchers Alleges “Corruption” By Gordon Hopkins Prior to a hearing of the Planning and Zoning Committee held Thursday, an opponent of further wind energy expansion in Jefferson County spoke to county commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, to express his displeasure to how the matter has been handled. Brian Weishahn read from a letter he wrote to the commissioners.Conflict of InterestWeishahn said, “Throughout this process I have been discouraged, I've seen corruption at the federal level of government, but didn't think it was at the local level as well. But here we are, as a member of the Jefferson County Wind Watchers group, we filed a complaint with the state Attorney General that there was a member of the P & Z (Planning and Zoning) Committee that was conflicted.”Jefferson County Wind Watchers is a group of landowners pushing for more restrictive regulations governing wind turbines in the county. According to Weishahn, a member of the Planning and Zoning Committee has leases with NextEra Energy, a company that owns and operates one wind Farm in the county, Steele Flats, and wishes to construct another, Big Blue Wind. FJN has not independently verified this claim.Weishahn disputes the Nebraska Attorney General's response to his claim in his letter, “His interpretation was ridiculous. To paraphrase the law as I read it, and it's not complicated, it reads that if you do something, or fail to do something, or instruct someone else to do the same, where you MAY show a profit, you are conflicted, IF it is not available to the majority of the public, which wind turbines are definitely not. Pretty simple right? So the Attorney General is re-writing the law, not enforcing the law. And that is not in his authority to do that. It's insulting that he thinks that we are not capable of reading the law and understanding it. It's also sad that our own county attorney hasn't advised you that this is a text book case of conflict.”The issue of a potential conflict of interest was addressed by Jefferson County Attorney Joseph Casson last year. At a meeting on August 9, 2022, Casson told Commissioners, “If you can have a wind turbine on your farm. That’s a direct financial interest. And if you own a farm, you can have a wind turbine. And I think pretty much every member of your planning commission owns a farm.”Casson explained that, even if a member of the committee has not expressed an interest in having a turbine and may even be opposed to the presence of wind turbines in the county, “You have the opportunity to have a wind turbine on your farm.”“So the issue becomes, is that a conflict of interest because you could have? Maybe you don’t want one but you could have,” said Casson. “It becomes difficult for a public body to even address the issue if everybody has a conflict of interest, because they’re all landowners that are affected by the wind turbine thing.”Casson said he discussed the issue with the Accountability and Disclosure Commission, the state agency charged with the administration and enforcement of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act (NPADA). The NPADA regulates campaign finance disclosure, lobbying, statements of financial interest and conflicts of interest at the state and local levels.“So, strange as this may sound, the Accountability and Disclosure Commission has a, I’ll call it a special rule, about conflict of interest when all of the members have a conflict of interest,” said Casson. “And do you know what the rule says? There is no conflict of interest, because they all have it. Because otherwise, you could never regulate it.”The Jefferson County Wind Watchers group has engaged an attorney, Scott Gropp of Gropp Law and Mediation, LLC, in Wilber. Gropp has spoken at several meetings of the Planning and Zoning Committee. FJN reached out to Gropp to confirm Weishahn was speaking on behalf of his clients. Gropp has not responded as of press time.

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