Scout Clean Energy’s proposed $300-million Nimbus Wind Energy project in rural Carroll County would provide an estimated 180 megawatts of energy from 43 wind turbines at least 500 feet tall located along County Roads 905 and 920. Scout representatives and the Arkansas Public Service Commission have said the project doesn’t need a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (CECPN) permit from APSC because independent power producers are exempt.
Normally APSC requires environmental studies and holds public hearings before allowing a new electrical generating facility to be built. That helps protect consumers by not allowing building more capacity than is needed to meet the need. It allows the state to evaluate if the environmental cost is justified by the need and can protect from utilities overbuilding generating plants, which can raise costs for customers.
When APSC isn’t involved, how can residents impacted by a project of this magnitude have a voice? Recently there was an overflow crowd composed primarily of opponents of the project at the Carroll County Quorum Court meeting. The issue wasn’t on the agenda.
Scout has said that electricity generated by Nimbus would travel via a new four-mile electrical transmission line to the Dry Creek Substation operated by Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), which provides generated power to electric cooperatives across the state including Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp (CECC). Scout has said it is also exempt from applying for a permit from APSC for the transmission line.
Earlier, the Eureka Springs Independent reported that the energy from Nimbus would be sold to out-of-state buyers. Some residents questioned whether it is appropriate to ask Carroll County and Arkansas to take the development impacts of the Nimbus project without receiving the energy. But Andrew Lachowsky, vice president of planning and market operations for AECC, said that as part of MISO Energy, the energy from Nimbus could be sold at the Dry Creek Station to AECC or other customers in Arkansas.
“I would equate MISO to an air traffic controller for the electric grid,” Lachowsky said. “MISO controls electric transmission over a large area from Canada to New Orleans. MISO has a tariff that sets out the rates and terms that applies to the entities under their control with one of the conditions being an open access requirement. Any generator can apply to come in and locate on that transmission line. Our substation is part of the MISO tariff. MISO does a study to make sure the transmission grid can accommodate whatever is being requested. If upgrades are required to the transmission grid, those can be assigned back to the project.”
MISO has confirmed that the Nimbus project is in the queue to interconnect. Lachowsky said the queue determines which project gets priority to connect; those who have been approved first get priority.
Lachowsky said the state laws that allow independent power producers to build without getting permission from the APSC are not new to this project.
“Independent power producers for some time have not had to go to APSC for permission for projects,” Lachowsky said. “Utilities do need permission, but not independent power producers.”
Both AECC and CECC have stated that they oppose unfair subsidies for intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar. Cory Smith, CECC vice president of public relations, said the cooperative has indicated in its newsletters that it generally shares the same concerns of North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association.
“When the demand for electricity exceeds the available power supply during peak conditions, which is occurring more frequently, the Bulk Power System must respond to avoid regional grid failure,” Smith wrote in an email. “That response usually includes public appeals to conserve energy and ordering utilities to force rolling blackouts. Generally speaking, this problem worsens when intermittent power resources occupy a larger portion of the grid’s generation portfolio and they do not produce electricity as anticipated.
“CECC has three goals: Goal 1. Protect dispatchable sources that include nuclear, coal, and natural gas. Goal 2. End unfair subsidies to non-dispatchable forms of power generation such as wind and solar. Goal 3. Advocate for consumer-focused wholesale markets that place value on continuous reliability.”
Scout said it has all leases needed from private landowners to build the project. Landowners would benefit from annual lease payments estimated at $14 million for the 30-year life of the project and $25 million in county tax revenues.
Local proponents of the project said they are happy to get revenue from their farm and ranchland at a time when heat and drought have taken a toll, particularly on cattle ranching. As reported earlier. there are local people in favor of an alternative energy project that would reduce carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels for electricity generation said to be warming the planet and causing climate disruption.
Scout will have public information sessions at the Berryville Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, and from 6-8 p.m. Monday, April 24. The public will have the opportunity to ask questions.