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Logan County Board updated on
Sugar Creek Wind Farm Project
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[April 22, 2016]
LINCOLN
- At the Logan County Board's Regular meeting on April 19, the board
heard an update on the Sugar Creek Wind Farm Project. The project
has had several delays since the approval of a Conditional Use
Permit in 2011.
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 American Wind Energy Management Corp's Director of Development
Stan Komperda said his company is ready for the project to move
forward. It was delayed due to economic factors. Komperda said,
recently the wind farm project has been sold to Apex Clean Energy.
Executive director for the Logan County Economic Development
Partnership, Bill Thomas, thanked Sugar Creek for keeping the
project alive and Apex for "stepping up to the plate" to move the
project forward.
Apex's Senior Director of Project Development Scott Koziar said, "We
are very excited" to be in Logan County and "move the project
forward to completion."
Koziar said Apex is an international developer, owner, and operator
of wind farms across the country. Koziar said, "Last year we
installed over 100,000 megawatts of wind across the country.
Koziar said Apex has worked with several similar sized counties to
set up wind farms and that Apex Clean Energy will work with
representatives of Sugar Creek Wind Farm since they have already
been involved with the project.
 Koziar said the project is in late stages. The company has an
agreement with Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO),
a grid operator.
Koziar said the company needs to work through the permit process
again since a couple changes need to be made. One change is that the
turbine previously approved is no longer being manufactured. They
need to change to a turbine that is viable today.
Board member Rick Aylesworth asked if they would have to go through
Zoning Board of Appeals for approval again with changing the
turbines.
Logan County Zoning Officer Will D'Andrea said because of the new
turbines, Apex would have to go before the ZBA for a modification of
the approval. D'Andrea said it will be a limited scope of review on
the type of turbine for the public hearing process.
Koziar said they will present changes to the turbine to the Zoning
Board of Appeals and the County Board sometime this summer.
Hepler asked Koziar when he could foresee going to the Zoning Office
for permits.
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Koziar said it would likely be July or August.
Finance Chairman Chuck Ruben asked when they would get the building permits.
Koziar said the company typically gets building permits 60-90 days before they
start construction. He said they would probably get the permits early next year
in January or February. By October of this year, the company will finance the
deal and give notice they plan to proceed with construction soon.
Koziar said his company hopes to complete the project sometime in 2017.
Board Chairman David Hepler thanked Apex for their investment in the County.
[Angela Reiners]
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