Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
A wind developer is looking at the Black Hills National Forest as a possible location for a wind farm that would be large enough to supply the City of Chicago. The project is in its early exploratory phase and where exactly the towers would be placed will depend to a large degree on how the nearby communities feel, according Scott Debenham of Debenham Energy.
A wind developer since 2001, Debenham visited the county commissioners to ask for a letter of support as he begins the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, for which he was intending to submit an application by the end of the week.
Well over $1 million is expected be spent on sensors and test towers to gauge the best placement for the wind turbine, Debenham said, but there are several considerations that will need to be born in mind as he works to find the best location across the four districts of the Black Hills National Forest.
Debenham is open to locating his wind farm in the Bearlodge, Northern Hills, Mystic or Hell Canyon districts, he said, though each has its own benefits and drawbacks.
“This is a good wind resource,” he said of the Forest as a whole, but, “The north, up near you, might be the best.”
The wind farm would allow the sale of power at a price competitive to coal and gas, Debenham said. He told the commission that it would have the potential to power the entire community and is a timely project considering the growing concern about climate change.
“All of Chicago could be powered with this Forest,” he said of the scale of the proposal.
However, he said, there are numerous considerations to be born in mind, such as the presence of tourist attractions, military installations, tribal sites, migratory paths for birds and historical or archaeological sites – not to mention wind data and transmission capacity. He would also be looking for mining projects nearby, to which power could be supplied.
Among the biggest considerations, he said, is the attitude of locals to wind power.
“Some people really don’t like the look,” he said, while others consider them engineering masterpieces.
Would the Crook County community be open to a large wind development? Debenham suggested that this is one of the only hurdles between the idea and reality of the Bearlodge District making the top of the shortlist.
“We have financial backing, we’ve got four business partners and 150 years of experience,” he said. “We like this project a lot. The question is: will the locals oppose it?”
The company does not want to spend money on a study here if it’s likely that the community will be strenuously opposed to it, Debenham said. At this time, he is looking for the “fatal flaw” that would make it unwise to pursue the project in a certain area.
In other words, he said, the company does not want to discover the presence of “a bunch of noisy, litigious people” after spending a quarter million dollars on the sensors. Though public comment is part of the NEPA process, he expressed that he would like to get an idea of the level of potential support now, before the project begins.
However, he said, a letter of support from the county does not commit the commission or the community to the project. There’s a long way to go yet, he said.
County Attorney Joe Baron suggested the proposal be submitted to the Land Use Planning committee for the gathering of public comment. Commissioners Kelly Dennis and Fred Devish agreed, with the latter stating that he doesn’t currently fall to either side of the issue, but, “I’m not ready to jump in and swim with the duckies yet.”
Dennis added that he would also prefer to check with Land Use, as well as Commissioner Jeanne Whalen, who was not present for that portion of the meeting.
Debenham confirmed that the application is going in next week and the company plans to tell the U.S. Forest Service that it has reached out to all seven counties and will follow up with letters of support from any counties that agree to submit them.
“We will proceed without that, but we would like to know if there’s a chance to get them,” he said.
Dennis reiterated that the commission will look into the issue, while Baron explained that the county likes to get ahead of things like this right at the beginning, because it would be better to understand public sentiment now than much later in the NEPA process.
“We are sincere about finding fatal flaws early,” agreed Debenham.
