Plans underway for North Bend wind farm

Plans are now underway for a wind energy facility for Hughes county, with North Bend Wind and the state public utilities commission working together to make the project possible.

The farms will have up to 71 wind turbines, covering more than 45 thousand acres of land in both Hughes and Hyde counties.

Kristie Fiegen, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairperson, explains that developers worked with counties and municipalities early on in the process. "So the public utilities commission put 45 conditions on this wind farm, and it's all about being a good neighbor. And landowners are the PUCs top priority and the land owners that are participants and non-participants," Fiegen said.

She said they had an intervener in this docket that worked with the developer months ahead of coming to an agreement. Aerial spray for agriculture was a top priority, where they have to work with producers to mitigate interference with equipment. Sound testing led them to establish a 45 decibel limit from 25 feet of a residence. That's roughly the same level as a suburban area at night, according to a decibel level comparison chart published by Yale Environmental Health and Safety.

Fiegen said developers will have 180 days to restore the roads back to being usable, including topsoil and seed mix. "Also on road repair, a lot of the road repair and road haul agreements are done by counties and townships. And a lot of times the townships work directly with the counties. So in a wind project that does not have a transmission line attached to it, the PUC cannot put a bond on the condition of the road haul agreement, but the counties can. So it appears that Hughes county has put a financial security for (sic) the developer to make sure the roads are maintained during the project and then restored after the project is done," Fiegen said.

Carrie Stephenson, Hyde county director of equalization and zoning administrator, has been pleased with the process thus far. "We got ours done quite a bit sooner than Hughes county did," Stephenson said. She said that anytime one adds to a power system is a net positive. The first time Hyde county worked with these developers was the Triple H project, completed in the fall of 2020. "It's been a pretty smooth process this second time around," Stephenson said.

Not everyone is a fan of the future wind farms. "It appears from our review of the Plan, the Zoning Ordinance, and the documents filed of record to date that the proposed project will adversely affect the use and enjoyment of the surrounding property owners as well as the community at large. Additionally, the planned obsolescence, or decommissioning, of this project and the inadequate provisions for that purpose pose a clear threat to the public good," Robert and Marsha Seidel wrote July 26, 2022.

The Irions signed a letter dated July 21, 2022 where they raised concerns about vertigo. Arlen Mehrer raised concerns over hunting in a July 26, 2022 letter. "Wind farms have the potential to affect the nearby non-participant(s) ability to enjoy and operate as usual their land whether it be farming, recreational, development, rural home, etc.," Gail Tennant wrote July 25, 2022.

According to a release, North Bend Wind estimates construction of the wind farm will cost $265 million to $285 million.