“The goal is to ensure that after a wind turbine has generated its last kilowatt, the owner has a plan – and the financial means – to restore the landscape to its original condition.”

Mike Nowatzki — InForum — April 12, 2014

When wind turbines stop turning

BISMARCK – For more than a decade, they have towered like workhorses over the prairie, their spinning blades catching the wind and converting it to electricity.

Now, for the first time, the North Dakota Public Service Commission is considering whether to require operators of the state’s oldest commercial wind turbines to provide some form of financial assurance to cover the costs of retiring the turbines when they reach the end of their lifespan.

The goal is to ensure that after a wind turbine has generated its last kilowatt, the owner has a plan – and the financial means – to restore the landscape to its original condition.

“It’s a really good idea, and there has to be something where if a company walks away, that the ability is there to put the land back the way it was,” PSC Chairman Brian Kalk said.

But not everyone thinks such financial guarantees are necessary, including NextEra Energy Resources, whose wind projects near Edgeley and Kulm are part of the PSC’s review of decommissioning plans.  Continue reading here….

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