Saline County landowners hear wind farm pitch

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BY CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star

RURAL DORCHESTER — A representative from the nation’s largest wind energy development company pitched the creation of a wind farm in central Saline County to a group of about 50 landowners Thursday evening.

Dave Savage, a development manager for Denver-based Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc., explained to his audience in the basement of the Saline Center that his company has been looking at the development of wind energy resources in six Saline County townships for the past year.

And those at the company liked what they've seen.

It would be feasible, Savage said, for the company to build an 80-turbine wind farm in central Saline County, altering the appearance and economy of the county and generating up to $12,000 per year per a wind turbine for landowners.

Thursday night's pitch from RES, which also developed Nebraska's largest wind farm, near Ainsworth, was the second such proposal the county has heard in the past month, said Randy Pryor, a University Of Nebraska extension educator in Saline County, and also a local land owner.

"It's a little bit of a gold rush," he said.

The interest of wind development companies has received a mostly warm welcome in Saline County, he said.

"We were initially very excited to see that someone else thinks we have something of value above our land," Pryor said.

But landowners are proceeding cautiously, he said.

Part of Saline County's attraction to potential developers, he said, is that no one in the county has signed away their wind energy rights. Those contracts tend to last for several decades and are therefore nothing to be taken lightly, he said.

During Thursday night's meeting, audience members asked if construction of wind turbines would increase their property taxes, if there was the possibility of eminent domain being used and about specifics of the contracts they would sign if plans for the wind farm proceed.

District 32 Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber didn't attend Thursday's meeting, but said beforehand he agreed that landowners need to make sure they know what they're getting into before they sign any contracts.

"I'm all for the wind energy," Karpisek said in a phone interview Thursday. "I think we need to find out how this works."

And how it works in Nebraska is different from other states, he said. As a public power state, electricity costs in Nebraska are lower than most other states, which is among the reasons there hasn't been as much development of wind energy here, he said. A bill (LB629) passed in 2007 by the Nebraska Legislature, makes it easier for private companies to work with the Nebraska Public Power District to develop wind energy. That has led to some wind farm development, including a project in Bloomfield, Pryor said.

Savage said RES has a good relationship with NPPD. And he told the audience that more detailed information about the company's proposal is on file at the Saline County Courthouse, though those who wish to read it must first sign a confidentiality agreement.

After Thursday’s meeting, Pryor said several landowners planned to meet to talk about forming a group of their own, to increase their negotiating power.

It will likely be at least a few years before there are turbines in Saline County — the project is still in the very preliminary stages, and even if contracts are signed, it generally takes about two years to finesse the plans and build the wind farm, Savage said.

And while he's advising landowners to proceed with caution, Pryor doesn't deny the prospect of the wind farm is exciting.

"It would totally change the way the middle of Saline County would look," he said. "That would be the largest project in the state."

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.