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Minutes for SB279 - Committee on Utilities
Short Title
Establishing the wind generation permit and property protection act and imposing certain requirements on the siting of wind turbines.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 23, 2021
Matt Sterling, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. SB 279 would require a developer of a wind generation facility to enter into a facility agreement, comply with certain setback requirements, and have an application approved by the board of county commissioners where the proposed project was located.
The Chairman called for Neutral testimony.
Neutral oral testimony
Jacqueline Augustine, Executive Director, Audubon of Kansas, testified as a neutral conferee. She stated although Audubon of Kansas does not support or oppose the bill, they recognize that it provides a much needed legal means for landowners outside of the Tallgrass Heartland Wind Moratorium to argue for the protection of their local heritage, wildlife, and geological features. She stated legislation of this kind is necessary because landowner concerns and regulatory guidelines are not being considered by wind developers. Audubon of Kansas would like to see multiple forums, instead of just one, required in the bill to hear the concerns of local landowners. (Attachment 1)
Opponent oral testimony
Kimberly Svaty, Public Policy Director, Advanced Power Alliance, spoke as an opponent of the bill, stating the bill was crafted in a vacuum without any input from the industry that it seeks to regulate. She said the wind industry started in 2001 in Kansas, and there has been a significant evolution as to how wind farms are sited. She stated they now have handbooks with guidelines that show how windfarms should and should not be sited, and there are also bans that can be used by counties and cities, and the wind industry is fine with that. She said her written testimony speaks to the lighting requirements, which are set by the Federal Aviation Administration. She said that noise is not regulated for any other industry, and has no requirements for combines, railroads or lawn mowers. If passed, SB279 would be the most restrictive wind bill in the entire country. (Attachment 2)
Alan Claus Anderson,Vice Chair, Polsinelli Energy Practice Group, spoke as an opponent of the bill, stating it would end wind energy development in the state, and that development would go to neighboring states. He said it takes the property rights from all the citizens of Kansas who want to participate in these projects. He said we have a due process system right now with balanced systems including Kansas Home Rule which gives counties the largest measure of self government. He said the process they have now has worked for 20 years. He stated there will always be people who aren't happy, but they can vote out the county commissioners if they like. He said if people don't like the decisions made, they say that they aren't being heard. He stated that in the marketplace of ideas, some don't win. (Attachment 3)
The Chairman opened up for a period of questions and answers before opponent oral testimony continued.
Jack Thimesch, Kingman County Commissioner, spoke as an opponent of the bill, stating there have been three wind farms built in his county in the last 10 years, one being built now, and one possibly coming. He said, "as a farmer myself, I'm glad I had the opportunity to lease my land and pad my retirement." He stated there's always negatives, and he has a turbine that's within so far of his house, and when it comes to noise, his tractor makes way more noise when he's sitting in the cab. He said they aren't going to make everyone happy and somebody is going to be mad, but as of right now, they are moving forward with more wind farms. He stated with the money they've received off it, they've built a new five million dollar jail, refaced an expo center and now are in the process of taking that money along with federal money and putting in five new bridges. "People would not be so obstruct to these wind towers if the money were used in the right way and if it's there to develop and to make our county better," he said. (Attachment 4)
Patrick Hoffman, Attorney, spoke as an opponent of the bill, stating in Ellsworth County they have a couple of wind farms, one that is being built, and one that is in development and has been leased. He said he has represented dozens of landowners locally, and hundreds around the state in the process, from getting a lease in the mail to deciding whether to sign "the thing". He sated agricultural producers in Kansas take their land rights very seriously and they do not sign them away quickly or thoughtlessly. He said a wind farm is a 300 million dollar investment in their county, and there's not that many industries who want to put that kind of money in rural Kansas right now. He said the wind farms locally gave their fire department $30,000. (Attachment 5)
Dave Kerr, Former Kansas Senate President, spoke as an opponent of the bill, stating he was involved with Hutchinson and Reno County economic development, and welcomed the Siemens Wind team to Hutchinson in 2008. He said they were one of 13 communities being looked at to put Siemens new North American wind cell facility in their community, and after the 2008 meeting, they came back with their whole eight-person team during the state fair. He said the governor was there and told Seimens the state is very strong on renewable energy. He said the wind team told them that a city in Iowa had a better incentive package, and could they think about that and call them back? He stated he sat down with the Governor, who called them back and said, "If you'll commit to Hutchinson, we will find the extra incentive funds". He said at the 2009 state fair they had the marching band and everyone else celebrating the fact that Hutchinson was going to be the new facility. He further stated, "Not once did I hear anyone say to Siemens, 'look', we'd really like to have those jobs, but we're not much interested in those towers, so we may just put in some setbacks and covenants so you won't be able to sell any of those nacelle units in our state." He concluded by saying, "So what should you do with this bill? Nothing." (Attachment 6)
Opponents providing written only testimony:
Stafford, Eric, Kansas Chamber (Attachment 7)
Svaty, Josh, Ag Advisor, Advanced Power Alliance (Attachment 8)
Barnett, Dorothy, Director, Climate & Energy Project (Attachment 9)
Pistora, Zack, Kansas Sierra Club (Attachment 10)
Welch, Myca, US Communications Director, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Inc. (Attachment 11)
Hall, Jay, Legislative Policy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of Counties (Attachment 12)
Rowe, Kent, Mayor, Longton, KS (Attachment 13)
Bauman, Dr. Alan, private citizen (Attachment 14)
Bell, Mattie, private citizen (Attachment 15)
Duteau, Robert, private citizen (Attachment 16)
Eberle, Will, Director of Government Relations and External Affairs, RWE Renewables (Attachment 17)
Fell, Ann, private citizen (Attachment 18)
Fund, Mary & Reznicek, Ed, private citizens (Attachment 19)
Gibbons, Jacque, private citizen (Attachment 20)
Goldman, Jakob, private citizen (Attachment 21)
Goodman, Nichole, Director, Government Affairs, Invenergy (Attachment 22)
Hands, Helen, private citizen (Attachment 23)
Harper, Dr. Cheryl, private citizen (Attachment 24)
Hart, Darrel, private citizen (Attachment 25)
Hassler, Stephen, private citizen (Attachment 26)
Hopkins, Frederick, private citizen (Attachment 27)
Howell, Daniel, private citizen (Attachment 28)
Koehn, Jonathan,Vice President, Project Development, ENGIE North America (Attachment 29)
Kramar, Tad, private citizen (Attachment 30)
Lawrence, Lori, private citizen (Attachment 31)
Lutz, Laura, Government Affairs, Evergy (Attachment 32)
Mace, Gina, Public Policy and Institutional Affairs Manager, Enel North America KS (Attachment 33)
Mahon, Penny, private citizen (Attachment 34)
Peterson, Rorik, Director of Development, EDP Renewables North America (Attachment 35)
Rees, Jerry, private citizen (Attachment 36)
Rieber, Rabbi Moti, Executive Director, Kansas Interfaith Action (Attachment 37)
Robinson, Mitch, 2nd Vice President, Salina Community Economic Development Organization (Attachment 38)
Sanderson, Bridget, Environment America (Attachment 39)
Sartorius, Erik, Executive Director, The League of Kansas Municipalities (Attachment 40)
Sayers, Julie, Lenexa City Council, Ward 4 (Attachment 41)
Schmidt, Tony, private citizen (Attachment 42)
Schwanke, Clyde, private citizen (Attachment 43)
Singleton, Lucas, Voice Team Chair, Young Professionals of Reno County (Attachment 44)
Teske, Donald , President, Kansas Farmers Union (Attachment 45)
Climate Action KC (Attachment 46)
Tuefel, Debra, President/CEO, Hutchinson County Chamber of Commerce (Attachment 47)
Van Buren, Marjorie, private citizen (Attachment 48)
Von Achen, Pennie and Kurt, private citizens (Attachment 49)
Wancura, Dan, private citizen (Attachment 50)
Wheeler, Michele, VP, Regulatory & Political Affairs, NextEra Energy Resources LLC (Attachment 51)
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 2:30 pm.
