Dodge County commissioners are asking right questions

Mark Lennox, the director for NextEra Energy’s Dodge County Wind program was at last week’s Dodge County Commissioners meeting to give an update on the project.

The project will install wind turbines, primarily in Dodge County, but also in Steele County, that will be able to provide up to 260 megawatts of clean energy. The energy produced will be sold to Great River Energy which is the electricity provider to a number of electric cooperatives including Steele Waseca.

Dodge County Wind currently has applications before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for a certificate of need and permits for the project and the transmission route. At public information meetings held by PUC staff earlier this year there was some opposition to the project by county residents concerned about its impact on agriculture and the environment and questions have also been raised by county commissioners regarding the transmission line route.

At last week’s update to the commissioners Lennox said that the company was listening to the concerns of county residents and the commissioners and has come up with an alternative route for the transmission line.

He also again reminded commissioners of the positive economic impact of the wind project.

In response to the presentation, commissioners pointed out they were not opposed to the idea of wind energy but rather they have concerns about the location of transmission lines and how it will affect county and township roads and the farmers near those lines.

“We’re not against wind energy,” was the comment of several commissioners but that there are consequences seemed to be the feeling of the board.

And in this case, commissioners are right in their concern.

An alternative, or alternatives, is needed, and needed sooner rather than later, to reduce or ultimately eliminate our continued use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. But every project needs to undergo scrutiny to see if it is in the right place at the right time.

It does seem that Dodge and surrounding counties have become a mecca for wind turbines and solar farms. And while they are producing these needed alternative types of energy they do come at a cost.

Dodge County officials have made it clear that the county is, and should continue to be, an agricultural county.

Each one of these projects needs to be carefully reviewed not just by the PUC but also by the county.

In the past there have been questions about placing solar panels on prime agricultural land rather than land that was not as suited for crops.

In this case the county board is doing the right thing in questioning the location of the transmission lines. There is an impact on roads both during the construction and also in the placement of transmission line poles in the right of way of those roads. One of the questions raised at a public meeting involved how the transmission lines would affect the ability to safely was aerial spraying on a field.

Of course, the economic and environmental benefits of these projects in general, and this one in particular, are important.

The final decision does rest with the PUC and not the county but Dodge County commissioners are right in asking these questions.