After years of lagging behind other states, South Dakota is suddenly on the cusp of a major expansion of its wind energy industry. A confluence of events could lead to the installation of hundreds of new towers in what one state official says will be like a gold rush of wind energy development.
Most of the new towers will be erected east of the Missouri River and in particular in the northeast corner of the state. That’s where wind energy companies have invested more than 450 million dollars to build two new major electricity transmission lines, from Big Stone City to Brookings and also to Ellendale in North Dakota. Those lines will attract wind farms because they can then carry power to and from established markets in North Dakota and to the Twin Cities.
Wind power developers are also flocking to South Dakota to beat the upcoming phase-out of federal renewable tax credits that increase profits for energy companies. One new wind farm is already approved and could bring 45 wind turbines to a site near Newell in West River. Two other proposals would create the state’s largest wind farms, with 120 turbines planned for Clark County and 72 turbines proposed for Codington and Grant Counties.
The wind farms will bring many millions in tax revenues to local counties and the state, and rural property owners who have towers on their land receive sizable annual lease payments. But opposition to wind farms is strong and has divided communities and in some cases individual families. Both sides of the debate seem unwilling to budge.
But, if a wind energy proposal meets all state and federal requirements, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has no option other than to approve the projects. The two east river wind farms are now under consideration by the PUC. If approved, they could begin production in late 2019 or early 2020.
(Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch)