Looks like they are going to have a tough road ahead (Full DOC PR; REFER-WIND);
Faced with the heavy task of gathering more than 1,700 signatures from Lincoln County registered voters, supporters began circulating the referendum petition last week after the publication of the new setback ordinance. Supporters achieved their goal of having the requisite number of signatures far ahead of the statutory 20-day deadline.Â
“Gathering nearly 2,100 signatures in a little more than a week is a true testament to the enthusiasm the voters of Lincoln County have for wind energy,†said Minish. “While circulating the petition it was a pleasure to hear thank you from the numerous voters who want to see clean, sustainable energy production become a reality in Lincoln County. From parents and grandparents looking at the funding this project would bring to schools, the county and townships to our ag producers, farmers and individuals who believe that landowners should be able to choose what they do on their family’s land, the support for Dakota Power Community Wind has really been overwhelming. We’re looking forward to the next phase of this process that will bring us one step closer to making wind energy in Lincoln County a reality.â€
That many signatures, that fast, tells me that this will probably get the NO vote they are looking for on the setbacks. I predict at least a 70% in favor of eliminating the 1/2 mile setback. Get ready for more letters to the editor about how great and knowing the Lincoln County Commission is (LOL) and how evil the wind energy business is. What I find incredibly ironic about the opposition to wind energy is how we have no problem with two oil pipelines going through our state (with a 3rd one in progress) that provide us NO oil for energy, yet we fight green energy that will be used locally.
Shaking my head.
It also goes to show, once again, it takes the voters taking matters into their own hands with a petition to get things done. Just look at the amount of time and energy that County and Planning commission wasted on this. They should have just set up an election date to begin with and saved a lot of people, a lot of time. As I tell the city council quite often, ‘There are some things above your pay grade.’
You have still never answered my question on wind energy: why are we giving tax breaks to large corporations and wealthy investors to build industrial scale wind projects but not giving tax breaks to homeowners and individual farms to build wind turbines on their farms or land? Also, why do we not change the law that allows big energy (when it comes to setting their own price) to buy energy from small producers with turbines? You continually sounds to me like you’re supporting big business over the average Joe. You are no different than “drill baby drill” crowd.
It’s ignorant worthless local politicians using a news worthy subject to get name recognition. An election is common sense they’re not known for.
Thomas, you are asking a lot of questions I can’t answer, maybe ask your DC delegation, oh that’s right, you can’t get a hold of them. My educated guess is that Wind Energy is subsidized because it is green. Don’t get me wrong, when the industry started, it sucked and wasn’t very efficient. The new turbines are worlds apart from what they used to be. I have a friend who works in the industry, his main job is updating the nation’s wind infrastructure, trust me, talking to him, he would agree, it used to suck. Actually, I have been against ethanol unless it is biomass, because it takes food from the hungry in the world and fucks up the grain markets. I suggest you really look a modern wind energy developments, they are quite good. That’s why the country of Scotland is almost 100% run on wind energy.
Maybe I can shed some light on the previous questions. Any owner/operator is eligible for the production tax credit regardless if they are a landowner or a large utility. Often times, you will see feed lots using smaller KW machines and they still receive one time tax incentives for the installation of those machines. I believe farmers are more inclined to lease their land to a large utilty than own the wind turbine themselves. All the money and no headache essentially. It is hard to acquire financing for a large MW wind turbine in addition to receiving a power purchase agreement from the utility. Utilities in South Dakota are not obligated to buy at all or pay a certain price for distributed power. Those laws would have to be changed at the state level. Any such laws will have a hard time finding footing in our congress for multiple reasons. Today, it is either big wind or no wind because of the economies of scale. As rooftop solar becomes more and more efficient, it will bring the distributed vs centralized energy issue to the forefront. I also, like L3wis, believe large wind sites benefit the big and little guys.
2100 signatures and 2700 votes. What a bunch of lard asses !