What appears to be a plan to harvest clean energy in the Wichita area has been shut down — at least for the next 6 months — while county commissioners gather more information. But a bill introduced in the Kansas House might make the delay a moot point.
No one has applied for wind or solar farm permits in Sedgwick County, and most of the county is off-limits because of a buffer around airports. But several landowners on the outskirts of Wichita have leased their properties for the purpose of renewable energy development, especially at the border of Reno County, where the world’s largest utility company, NextEra Energy, is positioning itself to open a wind farm close to Cheney Reservoir.
House Bill 2273 would establish a state law to keep wind turbines away from homes, parks, public buildings, refuges or public hunting areas, like Cheney. The wind turbines would have to be at least 1.5 miles from any residential property or public building and 3 miles from any airport, local, state or federal wildlife refuge, public hunting area or public park.
(Read more: Politics & Government News |)