The scene was cozy in Tim and Penny Davis' country living room Thursday evening. A group of 13 wind farm "neighbors" had gathered to discuss research pertaining to the proposed Ellis County wind farm in the form of an informal press briefing. A candid conversation prevailed as residents, who are members of the Ellis County Environmental Awareness Coalition, sipped iced tea and nibbled on fruit bread. "We need as many people as possible to be informed," said Rod Bittel. "One of the things we've found out is that a lot of people didn't know very much."

There was an air of excitement in Fox Pavilion on Wednesday evening as about 300 people gathered for a free community presentation - "The Truth about Industrial Wind Energy." The presentation, which started at 7 p.m., was produced and presented by the Ellis County Environmental Awareness Coalition. "These people are not politicians, they're not promoters of corporate business interests, they're not even experienced public speakers," said coalition member J.P. Michaud. "They're simply citizens ... who feel this is an issue of intense public importance and one deserving of very careful consideration." A variety of concerns and research was presented by 12 residents.

Plans for a wind-energy development project a few miles southwest of Hays could bring a blast of change to Ellis County. If the proposed wind farm development is approved, about 135 turbines will be spread over about 11,000 square acres of land. According to information obtained from the Ellis County Appraiser's office, there are about 50 landowners in this area - 20 of whom have entered a memorandum of easement agreement to have wind turbines placed on their property.

Russell attorney Dennis Davidson will replace Bill Jeter as county counselor in matters pertaining to the potential development of a wind farm southwest of Ellis County, it was decided at Monday's Ellis County Commission meeting. Following a 20-minute executive session, commissioners formally accepted Jeter's resignation and appointed Davidson in a 3-0 vote by commissioners. "It would be very difficult to find someone in Hays who didn't have a conflict of interest," said County Chairman Vernon Berens. "We didn't want to question the attorney, so we just went with someone out of Russell who does not have a conflict."

The heated debate concerning a potential wind farm wafted into Ellis County Commission chambers Monday morning, as resident John Schmeidler presented concerns regarding county procedures. "In going through the town hall meeting that we had last week, as well as talking to some of the administrators, it seems to me there are several procedural problems that need to be addressed," Schmeidler said. "Since ultimately this is going to end up on your plate to decide, and perhaps even to the district court to decide, there are some things I'd like to bring to your attention." He said public notices only were distributed to individuals residing within 1,000 feet of the project area. "We're talking about a huge project, probably the biggest project that's ever been proposed in Ellis County," he said. "In my opinion, if this were to go to district court, and we only notified people within 1,000 feet, that is not including all the people who are going to be affected by this project." The district court might find that to be inadequate due process, said Schmeidler, who lives at 2169 Locust Grove, about 4 miles north of Catharine. Schmeidler asked commissioners to extend the notification area to at least a 5-mile radius around the project site southwest of Hays. Another concern he presented was that the county has no official recording of the public hearing.

As plans for an Ellis County wind farm continue to kick up dust, a heated debate has blown over the city of Hays, particularly the southwest part of town. While 20 property owners in the Yocemento Road area have entered lease agreements with Competitive Power Ventures, a Maryland-based power industry development and asset-management company, other locals strongly oppose the idea of neighborhood turbines.

CAMBRIA, Wis. -- With empty storefronts on the main drag and corn stubble stretching for miles in the surrounding hills, this fading farm town seems like a natural stop for the ethanol express. Not to John Mueller, though. The 54-year-old stay-at-home dad has led a dogged battle to prevent a corn mill from building an ethanol plant up the hill from the village school. Concerned about air pollution, the water supply and the mill's environmental track record, Mr. Mueller and his group, Cambrians for Thoughtful Development, have blitzed the village's 800 residents with fliers, packed public meetings and set up a sophisticated Web site. The mill has fought back with its own publicity campaign and local corn farmers have taken to the streets in tractors to show support. Now, as the mill races to build the $70 million plant, the matter is headed to the federal courthouse in Madison, 40 miles southwest.

The Sierra Club and Kansas City Power & Light Co. have signed an unusual accord in which the utility agreed to offset all the greenhouse gas emissions from a new coal-fired plant by adding wind power and taking steps to conserve energy on a large scale. The Kansas City utility, which serves half a million customers in western Missouri and eastern Kansas, also pledged to cooperate with the Sierra Club on legislative and regulatory changes that would reduce the company's overall emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 percent by the year 2020. In return, the Sierra Club will end its campaign against the utility's 850-megawatt coal-fired plant under construction in Missouri.

GREAT BEND - Barton County Commissioners delayed a decision Monday on zoning for non-commercial wind turbines until the state's secretary of Wildlife and Parks could speak to them. No resolution was adopted, according to Barton County Clerk Donna Zimmerman. Instead, Secretary Mike Hayden was tentatively planning on meeting with the group April 2 to discuss the building of wind turbines near Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.

HAYS - A developer has applied for a conditional-use permit to build a large wind farm in Ellis County, clearing the way for a public hearing on the project later this month. CPV Wind Hays wants to build as many as 129 towers in an area southwest of town, project manager Krista Jo Gordon said. The developer already has nearly 10,000 acres under lease. Gordon said no electricity from the proposed wind farm has been sold yet. The 400-foot-tall towers would be at least 1,000 feet from the nearest household, but officials said landowners who agree to allow turbines on their property would receive a portion of the electricity sales. A hearing is scheduled for March 28 at the Ellis County Courthouse.

The concept of public welfare is broad and inclusive. … The values it represents are spiritual as well as physical, aesthetic as well as monetary. It is within the power of legislature [to have] determined that the community should be beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well as clean, well balanced as well as carefully patrolled. …

“The County found that placing the complexes of wind farms, of the size and scope necessary to accomplish their intended purpose, would have a dramatic, and adverse, effect upon all of the general welfare issues found in the comprehensive plan. …

“The Court finds there is substantial evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support the conclusions reached by the County.

“[I]n the County’s denial of placing wind farms in the entire county[,] [t]he County didn’t take any existing rights away but only refused to expand the existing rights including wind rights.”

Here is a big bit of good news from Wabaunsee County for those of us who aren’t in favor of wind farm development in the Smokey Hills. A 14 page decision has been rendered in which Judge Ireland rules in favor of Wabaunsee County and dismisses Zimmerman et al’s lawsuit. We can thank Pat Hughes for his excellent law review article which helped clarify the law. Of course they can appeal, which would make this holding become appellate law in Kansas and of even more significance. Its a great day for prohibiting industrial scale turbines in the Flint Hills… …and raises enthusiasm for our common cause in the Smoky Hills area.

You might like to know that CPV (Competitive Power Ventures) plans to file an application for a 200 MW wind project in Ellis County on Monday. The proposed project will be located about five plus miles southwest of Hays. Their plan is to offer it to Westar. According to a local source most of the project area is native grassland on modest ridges, but the company has suggested that it will be on 40 percent native grassland. This site was reportedly developed by the same individual/company that developed the Moyer Ranch project proposal in Geary County. “Ownership” of the Ellis County project has reportedly passed through about three transformations so far.

The largest wind farm in Kansas, it features 170 giant turbines with a generating capacity of 110 megawatts. That's enough electricity to power 33,000 homes. The difficulty, Johnson said, is that potential is rarely reached. Based on figures from 2005, 32 percent of the time the wind farm produced less than 11 megawatts, which would be 10 percent of its rated output. What's more, 66 percent of the time it produced less than 55 megawatts, or 50 percent of its rated output. Surprisingly, 18 percent of the time, the farm produced virtually no energy. That's equivalent to more than one and one-fourth days each week. "You could, therefore, say that only 34 percent of the time was it at greater than 55 megawatts, or one-half of rated capacity," he said. "Overall, on the average, its output is approximately 36 megawatts, or about one-third of its rated capacity."

Two power suppliers wanting to construct 1,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and new substations in Colorado and Kansas are refining the routes for the project, officials said last week. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and the Western Area Power Administration are teaming on the Eastern Plains Transmission Project, which will cost anywhere from $8 million to $1 billion. Randy Wilkerson, a public affairs specialist for Western, said that based on comments from the public during meetings held in September in the affected areas, proposed and alternative routes for the lines have been changed. “We have changed the routes somewhat - we have also began doing some analysis on those routes, looking at them based on 47 different criteria,” Wilkerson said. Wilkerson said among the standards are engineering characteristics, which includes cost and how many miles of line, and land use issues. “All those things have been analyzed. The land-use portion analyzes whether the lines are going through rangeland (or) irrigated crop land and how many residences it’s going by,” Wilkerson said. “We are trying to find a route that has the least impact overall.”

The prospect of more wind turbines on Kansas prairies drew a mix of environmental groups and ranchers into a Statehouse debate Wednesday. After hearing their testimony, House Energy and Utilities Committee took no action on House Bill 2492, which would require a new public hearing process to inform county residents of wind developers’ plans. It also would create a new procedure for public protest petitions on wind turbine placement. The House panel could decide Friday whether to send the bill to the full House.

Responding to opponents of a new wind farm planned in the state’s Smoky Hills, Topeka Rep. Annie Kuether said Thursday she’ll sponsor a bill placing new requirements on wind project developers. But another lawmaker, who represents residents in the Smoky Hills, said he doubted the measure would pass. “I don’t think it’s doable at all,” said Rep. Josh Svaty, D-Ellsworth. “As long as you have a willing buyer and a willing seller and it doesn’t pose any harm to any adjacent landowners, we as a Legislature have no business getting involved in those transactions.”

In about a year, drive west along Interstate 70 and you will probably see 56 wind turbines dotting the Kansas prairie. TradeWind Energy president Rob Freeman told members of the House Utilities and Economics Committee on Thursday that phase one of the Smoky Hills project would be complete by the end of 2007.

The Flint Hills and Smoky Hills are the last largest pieces of contiguous Tallgrass and Mixed Prairie left in North America. They are recognized as “World Class Grasslands” and cannot be duplicated, replaced, or repaired to its original form once it is destroyed. This point was stressed by opponents of the wind farm who attended the afternoon session with the County Commissioners. Speakers included: Virgil Huseman, Zack Grothusen, Rob Manes, Liz and Steve Donley, Ron Klataske, Wayne Bohl, Scott Bohl, Rose Bacon, Mary Jo Huseman, Joan Bohl, Melinda Boeken and Anne Grothusen. Rob Manes of the Nature Conservancy and Ron Klataske of the Audubon Society of Kansas also spoke on behalf of the groups they represent to keep turbines off undisturbed native prairie. The opponents asked that the County Commissioners place a moratorium on the construction of the wind farm until they are fully informed of the consequences of allowing a wind farm to be built in the Smoky Hills which is pristine prairie grass. Rose Bacon who hails from Cottonwood Falls and served on the Governor’s Wind and Prairie Task Force presented information on “industrial wind utility” developments and siting issues associated with them.

Many see a plan for large wind turbines along Interstate 70 in Lincoln and Ellsworth counties as an environmental disaster in the making.