Introduction

Landscape regions of Kansas showing county boundaries marked in maroon. Reno County (RN) and Harvey County (HV). Adapted from Aber and Aber (2009).

The wind farm was blocked by a grass-roots initiative in 2019. Those opposed to the wind farm had forced a protest petition that required unanimous approval by the Reno County Commission. When one commissioner voted no, the project was halted; the first wind farm to be rejected in Kansas during the previous decade.

NextEra Energy appealed this decision through a number of legal moves. Eventually the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld the protest petition and vote of the county commission to halt the wind farm. In the meantime, the Reno County Planning Commission had continued to review issues for potential wind turbines in unzoned portions of the county.

In a surprising move, the Reno County Commission approved wind-turbine zoning regulations in January 2022 that had been sent forward from the planning commission in December 2020. A new countywide overlay zone for wind farms will be applied to those areas not otherwise zoned. The key provision is a 2000-foot turbine setback from homes. Additional provisions deal with setbacks for roads, property lines, airports, and wildlife refuges. Shadow flicker and noise are also addressed in the approved regulations. The zoning requirements adopted by the Reno County Commission are much like those that NextEra Energy had agreed to follow.

The main point of contention was the requirement for turbine setback from property boundaries. Options discussed were setbacks of 2000, 1500, and 1000 feet. Another issue was potential disturbance or contamination of the Equus Beds Aquifer. In September 2022, the planning commission unanimously approved regulations that included a 1500-foot setback, noise level of 45 decibels measured at the edge of the property, and several other requirements. The matter then moved to the Harvey County Commission for further consideration.

Fields irrigated by a circular center-pivot system in the Equus Beds Aquifer near Halstead in western Harvey County. The watertable is quite shallow, typically 30 feet deep or less. Autumn kite aerial photograph.

The county commission held a public meeting and accepted comments. In October 2022, the county commission revised the regulations and approved setbacks of 1000 feet from property boundaries and 2000 feet from homes. Other provisions include protection of the Equus Beds Aquifer and financial obligations by NextEra Energy to pay for road maintenance.

NextEra Energy moved quickly to obtain conditional-use permits to erect four weather towers that stand 197 feet tall. These towers would monitor wind and weather conditions as a first phase to evaluate further development of a wind farm. Such towers are routine components of all wind farms. The Harvey County Planning Commission is considering this request as of January 2023.

Public opposition continued, nonetheless, and the county commission agreed in February 2023 to a six-month moratorium on wind turbines and to put the issue of wind energy to a public vote. On August 1, the county commission voted to extend the moratorium. The Planning and Zoning Committee recommended unanimously against commercial wind and solar developments. Finally the County Commissioners voted unanimously in November 2023 to prohibit commercial wind energy in the county. This ban includes all utility-scale wind-power and solar-energy systems. Protection of the Equus Beds Aquifer was a key issue for this decision.

Wind and solar energy production is inherently intermittent. The Tallgrass Prairie Energy Center would help to even out availability of electricity and prevent power outages. The proposed battery-storage facility would have a capacity of 200 MW and up to 800 MWh, which is enough electricity to power 200,000 homes for four hours. The initial lease-purchase agreement is good for two years during which further research and assessment would be conducted, and the facility could go online in 2027.

The Solomon Energy Storage Center is a similiar, although much smaller, battery-storage facility that began in 2021 at Minneapolis, Kansas. Its capacity is 1 MW / 5 MWh, which is sufficient to supply electricity for four hours to more than 250 homes (Runyon 2021).

One concern with battery-storage facilities is the risk of fire. Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe and are utilized in all types of devices from smart-phones to electric vehicles to battery-energy-storage systems, known as BESS. But they have a known risk for fire and explosion when they are damaged or used improperly. Lithium-ion battery fires are especially dangerous, because water and fire extinguishers are not effective (FDNY 2024)

This problem was highlighted in 2019 by a fire and unexpected explosion at a BESS in Arizona, and FEMA has recognized this emerging problem. Fire incidents have happened also in California, Idaho, and New York as well as Australia, France, and other countries (EPRI 2024). In 2019 the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) adopted Standard 855, which deals with the installation of stationary energy-storage systems, and Standard 855 was updated recently (NFPA 2023).

Still, fires at battery-storage facilities remain rare, and improved standards and procedures should minimize this risk. As of spring 2024, Halstead's Planning and Zoning Commission continues to collect public comments and to conduct research regarding BESS.