The Stutsman County Commission heard information from one of the leading wind farm developers in the nation during its regular meeting Tuesday. ...A principle point of contention in the proposed Stutsman County wind zoning ordinance is a requirement that all wind turbines be set back a distance of five rotor diameters from property lines unless neighboring property owners have signed waivers.

The Stutsman County Commission heard information from one of the leading wind farm developers in the nation during its regular meeting Tuesday. Scott Scovill and Ted Weisman, representing NextEra, formerly Florida Power and Light, provided information on how their company does business in regard to the proposed county wind zoning ordinance.

Scovill said NextEra had 17,000 megawatts of electrical production capacity in the United States including 6,000 megawatts of wind energy, making it one of the largest wind energy providers in the country.

A principle point of contention in the proposed Stutsman County wind zoning ordinance is a requirement that all wind turbines be set back a distance of five rotor diameters from property lines unless neighboring property owners have signed waivers.

A rotor diameter is the distance from tip to tip as the blades rotate. The distance varies with the size of the wind turbine and could be as little as 1,200 feet for smaller turbines or as much as 1,800 feet for the larger three megawatt turbines.

"We don't know a county that has these kind of setbacks that has a turbine," Weisman said. "If you have setbacks you are taking away the rights of those that can have turbines and giving them to those that can't have turbines."

Weisman said the wind turbine industry is competitive when it comes to location and that developers will be drawn to areas where the cost of acquiring land easements is lower.

Weisman also addressed questions about pool payments. Pool payments are a business practice used by some wind energy companies where a portion of the revenue of the project is shared with all people owning land within the project whether they had a turbine on the property or not.

"The landowners have to want us on their land," he said. "And they don't seem to want to share."

Also presenting information to the commission was Rep. Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley, and Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-James-town. Both spoke against placing zoning restrictions on wind farms.

"The point is the way it is now, it works," Brandenburg said.

Brandenburg said a wind farm originally planned by FPL in western Dickey County was built near Langdon due to concerns with zoning in a township in Dickey County. He said the Langdon wind farm paid more than $300,000 in taxes each year.

"I know this is a well-intentioned zoning initiative but this is a very competitive field," Wanzek said. "We should be trying to provide incentives to these kind of people."

Wanzek also disclosed that he had land under contract with NextEra.

"Not everyone is going to receive a turbine," he said. "But the entire community benefits in the taxes that are paid."

A subcommittee of the Stutsman County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 3 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the courthouse. If the subcommittee finalizes the draft of the ordinance it will go to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review before being forwarded to the Stutsman County Commission for a hearing and final consideration.

In other business, the commission met with seven candidates for the three positions they will fill on the Stutsman County/Jamestown joint library board.

Char Freeburg, LaRae Jorgenson, Lynn Krueger, Rebecca Van Erem, Judy Brueske, Anne Osborne and Margeret Harding answered questions by the commissioners about their ability to serve on the library board.

The commission made no final decision on who would be named to the board but agreed to suggest Brueske to the city as a possible joint nominee for the seventh position on the board.

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