Logan County Board approves five additional parcels for the Whitney Hill project

 

[June 04, 2019] 

At the Logan County Board meeting on Tuesday, May 21, the board voted to approve a Conditional Use Permit for Whitney Hill to add five new parcels. The parcels are for underground lines and an alternate substation that improve efficiency and lessen the wind farm’s foot print.

Earlier this month, both the Logan County Regional Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval.

The conditional use permit for the Whitney Hill Wind Farm project was approved at April’s Logan County Board meeting. This project is phase two of the HillTopper Wind Farm project.

At the Logan County Regional Planning Commission meeting, Kyle Barry, attorney for the project, said the project has submitted a new limited and targeted supplemental application seeking approval to add five new parcels. The parcels will not host any new turbines, but the applicants are asking to run underground collection lines buried five feet underground across the parcels connecting turbines to one another and the substation.

The applicants are also seeking permission to put in an electric substation that will be located on the same parcel next to the substation currently being used for the HillTopper project.

Barry said the existing permit allows a substation on the eastern side of the project, but this location will make things more efficient and involve less of a footprint.

Daniel Sheehan of Swift Current Energy said they are relocating the substation to put it next to the interconnect. After doing some engineering studies and other research, they found ComEd was not comfortable with the way the power would feed into the point of interconnect with the substation being that close and the way it would tie into the lines.

Sheehan said after more consideration, the company decided to move the collector substation adjacent to the HillTopper substation, preventing them from creating a non-conforming parcel next to the point of the interconnect substation on that parcel. It will look virtually identical to the substation already there near Lake Fork on the HillTopper side there now, and the company already has leased space acreage they can utilize through the shared facilities agreement with HillTopper Wind Farm and Whitney Hill.

Running the underground cables and the extra length will also save money for the project.

The new parcels are being added because of the new lines. Sheehan said a couple of the parcels were HillTopper participants and they already have turbines on them. All will have underground collection lines except the substation.

The conditional use permit was approved 9-1-1

Dave Blankenship, Emily Davenport, Janet Estill, Bob Farmer, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Chuck Ruben and Jim Wessbecher voted yes.

Bob Sanders voted no.

Scott Schaffenacker abstained.

Annette Welch was absent.

[Angela Reiners]