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PUC is successful with legislation to assist wind farm developers
(Saturday, March 12, 2005 -- CropChoice news) -- From wire service reports: South Dakota's three Public Utilities Commissioners were successful in
getting legislation passed to assist in the development of wind farms in
South Dakota. Senate Bill 17 was introduced during the 2005 legislative session at the
request of the PUC. It unanimously passed the Senate and the House of
Representatives, and was signed into law by Governor Rounds today. "Two goals of this legislation were to clarify the PUC's siting authority
regarding wind farms so that wind development will not be held up by
unnecessary legal challenges," said PUC Chairman Gary Hanson, "and to
financially protect landowners when wind mills must be removed." The law prior to this legislation was drafted in the 1970s and was intended
for large fossil fuel plants or energy conversion facilities that are
capable of generating 100 megawatts or larger. When a large wind farm is
built, the towers, when aggregated, may meet the 100 megawatt threshold.
Therefore, the new law will be better suited to siting - or approving the
location of - wind facilities. "Instead of waiting to interpret the statute when a company files to build
a wind farm, or does not file an application, we wanted the statute
clarified now to prevent any possible legal challenges to the PUC's
interpretation," said PUC Vice Chairman Bob Sahr. The PUC Commissioners believed that any legal challenges to the PUC's
interpretation of the statute could delay or even stop the construction of
large wind farms in South Dakota. "Another important goal of this legislation was to shorten the wind farm
siting approval process to six months instead of the twelve months allowed
previously," said PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson. "We clearly want to work
with wind farm developers to benefit our state." Wind farms are constructed in a much shorter time frame than most other
energy conversion facilities. Given this, the PUC wanted to make it clear
to developers that such an application will be handled in a more timely
fashion. This streamlining of the approval process will send the message
that South Dakota is a wind development friendly state. The new law allows the PUC to require bonds, guarantees, insurance or other
requirements to fund the removal of a wind tower. This provides protection
for landowners when a wind farm is no longer operating and the towers need
to be removed from their property. South Dakotans or wind developers are encouraged to contact the PUC if they
have questions about this legislation: call 1(800) 332-1782 or e-mail
wind@www.puc.sd.gov. | |
