Wind Farm Repowering Project Gets The Green Light

By Gordon HopkinsAll but four of the permits allowing upgrades to the wind turbines that make up the Steele Flats Wind Farm in Jefferson and Gage counties have been approved.John McKee, Planning and Zoning Administrator for Jefferson County, informed county commissioners of this at a meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.NextEra Energy, the company that owns and operates the Steele Flats Wind Farm in Jefferson and Gage counties, is looking to upgrade existing wind turbines, a project called “repowering.” The result will be an increase in generation capacity and, therefore, an increase in tax revenue to the host counties without increasing the number of wind turbines.Steele Flats consists of 44 wind turbines, 32 in Jefferson County and 12 in Gage County. According to McKee, Gage County has also approved permits for all of the wind turbines. Four Pending PermitsThe four turbines still pending are in Jefferson County. McKee explained, “All the towers met the requirements from the 2013 regulations, because they didn’t move. It’s just the lengths of the blades and the tips, and double and triple checking on those. The rest of them all had plenty of clearance between property lines and right-of-ways.”McKee said the county was waiting on additional information from NextEra before the four remaining towers can be approved.David Levy, an attorney for Baird Holm LLP, which represents NextEra, was present at the meeting. He told commissioners, “They’re very close to meeting the setback, so we’re trying to ascertain the exact distance and then figure out exactly what to do.”As a result of the repowering, the tower will increase in height and the blades will increase in length. Levy said, “The total increase (in height) was between 45 and 60 feet.”McKee added, “Again, there’s no encroachment on participating or not participating homes, because the towers did not move.” County RoadsAt that same meeting, commissioners also approved the applications to operated oversized, overweight vehicles on county roads. Those vehicles will be transporting the new blades to Steele Flats.Commissioner Mark Schoenrock asked if there were any concerns about the impact of those vehicles on roads.Terry Blas of the highway department said, “No. If you look at their haul route, they’re avoiding bridges. They do have a system that they can bridge over the top of the bridge if needed.”The Road Use and Maintenance Agreements from 2013 remain in effect and NextEra assured commissioners they will abide by those agreements. NextEra has agreed that they will repair any damage to the roads caused by their trucks and will leave the roads in as good or better shape that before the repowering project began. Safety During HarvestSchoenrock said, “I think the only concern I have is this is going to hit during harvest. And so, you know, the safety issue. We just got to be really careful.”Blas agreed, “Everybody’s going to have to open their eyes. Not only the NextEra people. Everyone.”Levy said local landowners will be informed of the activity, “The contractor will communicate with the landowners. I mean, they’re not just going to be out there, you know, running roughshod. They’ll communicate with people and work together. They’re used to working in places where harvest is going on.”Commissioner Michael Dux noted that it is not just farmers who are on the roads during harvest, “I probably have as big of a concern during harvest from the people that are in their upper 80s and 90s, driving around to watch harvest. Those are ones that concern me.”Blas confirmed harvest does get a lot of spectators, “They’ll sit on top of the hill or bottom of the road and in the middle of the road and watch. But, maybe, they should just pull off to the side in the driveway to watch.”

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