Bismarck Tribune

By LAUREN DONOVBy LAUREN DONOVAN

A wind farm in Oliver County cleared the county's zoning commission Thursday night.

Now, the proposal will go to the Oliver County Commission at 9 a.m. Tuesday for final approval of a conditional use permit.

Florida Power and Light, regulars now on the North Dakota wind development scene after projects near Wilton, Edgeley and Kulm, wants to build a 50-megawatt wind farm north of Center.

The 22 and up to 40 wind towers and blades will be located about four miles north of Center between Highway 48 and what's known locally as the paved "Hensler road."

The Oliver County Planning and Zoning Commission gave the project thumbs up and no opposition was raised by any of the approximate 75 people who attended the meeting, said county land use administrator John Wicklund.

He said Florida Power and Light plans to start construction in June and have the wind farm on line by December 2006.

Besides the towers, the company will build about 14 miles of collector lines between the towers, including a line from a central point cross country to the Square Butte transformer.

The power will be transformed from alternating to director current and used 425 miles away by Minnesota Power of Duluth. The transmission line that will get it from the transformer to Duluth is owned by Minnkota Power Cooperative, which owns most of the electricity made at the Milton R. Young coal-fired plants at Center.

Wicklund said the company promised setbacks from occupied property. The wind farm will be built on land owned by about 25 people, some multiple owners of the same property.

Typically, landowners are paid about $3,000 annually for each turbine located on their property.