28-02-2025
State regulators permit Deuel South Wind farm
PIERRE, SD (KELO) — South Dakota is getting another wind-energy farm.
A 68-turbine project including a six-mile tie-line proposed for Deuel County in northeastern South Dakota meets all of the conditions for a state permit, according to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
The commission on Friday voted 3-0 to approve an application from Invenergy to construct what's officially called South Deuel Wind. The project in the townships of Blom, Brandt, Clear Lake, Norden, and Scandinavia will cost an estimated $621 million.
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One of the permit conditions says there can be no construction activity between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Commissioner Chris Nelson voted against adding the condition. 'By nature, I hate telling somebody they cannot work,' he said.
Commissioner Gary Hanson offered the construction restriction. The area already has two wind projects.
'Is there ever a point when there's just too many turbines in an area?' Hanson asked Lisa Agrimonti, the attorney representing South Deuel Wind.
'I think that's a matter of individual perception,' Agrimonti replied.
'I have to tell you,' Hanson continued, 'I'm at a point where I wrestle with this.' He said visiting the area, especially at night, was troubling to him. 'I would not choose to live there myself,' Hanson said.
Hanson directed his next comments to intervenor Arla Hamann Poindexter. She's part of a farm family that was recognized in 2017 as that year's winner of the Leopold Conservation Award for land practices.
'I think Miss Poindexter has presented some good arguments, from my perspective. Unfortunately she's not a county commissioner,' Hanson said.
Agrimonti however said she didn't believe the commission could deny the permit because the project meets all of the requirements set in state laws.
'The reasoning I heard you describe was a social condition,' Agrimonti told Hanson.
Nelson likewise praised Hamann Poindexter, who had argued in a final filing that she should be considered an expert in wildlife management, though she lacks any official title or position.
'You've made the case,' Nelson said to Hamann Poindexter, noting that the Leopold award is a big deal. 'You don't get that by being a rookie.' However, Nelson added, while she may know what to do with her property, that doesn't mean she gets to tell neighbors what they can do on their properties.
Commissioner Kristie Fiegen said Hamann Poindexter made the process better. 'The applicant put three conditions on there. That may not have happened if Miss Poindexter were not there,' Fiegen said.
Earlier in the meeting, Hamann Poindexter told the commission that more than half of the residents in the project area chose to not participate. 'I'm asking the commission to honor their voice and deny the project,' she said.
In other action Friday, the commission:
Added more intervenors and denied others in the Summit Carbon Solutions docket seeking a permit for South Dakota's first CO2 pipeline that will be decided later this year; and
Approved MidAmerican Energy Company's petition for approval of deferred accounting treatment of costs incurred related to McCook Lake flooding last June.
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