Hey - Hey! Hey - Hey! Repeat After Me.... What's Up Dunn County?
Sun and Solar🌞 - Guns and Targets🎯
Well, I am Baaaack. It has been a crazy September with a major exterior home paint project that is finally getting down to the wire. A little bit of trim left and waiting on the arrival of the red cedar shake sidings for the front porch and peaks and this old house will look phenomenal 👌 The hubby and I continue to get from neighbors walking their dogs or pushing a stroller with their little ones on board with words of praise which will help us stay the course and getter done😁
I did get to take a breather from the exterior home paint project to learn more about how solar panels worked when the rays from our beautiful sun hit those panels that would create electricity for a residential home, business or community. When I found out that there would be a presentation on the Elk Creek Solar Project presented by Tyr Energy Development (TED Renewables) based in Kansas City, MO which is an independent power producer and owned by ITOCHU, a general trading company out of Tokyo, Japan at the September 21st Dunn County Board of Supervisors meeting I had to check it out to hear what it was all about! Dylan Stickney from TED Renewables along with Ian Edwards who is the developer of this project and Eric Callisto another team member for the Elk Creek Solar Project were present at the Dunn County Board of Supervisors meeting to present to the board and community a brief PowerPoint presentation of the project. This particular solar project will be located in the Town of Spring Brook using 1600 acres of farmland. Their goal with this particular solar development will be to take the opportunity to preserve farmland for future generations as well as protect the landowners rights, to create a healthier and more prosperous community and for substantial revenues paid to the local town and county.
Soooo, what does a solar project look like? Well, the solar panels quietly converts that nice glowing sun rays into electricity for starters. Then, the tracking system slowly tilts panels to track that nice glowing sun rays during the day. The height of the solar arrays typically stand less than 14 feet high and the site is enclosed with an 8 foot tall safety fence. The soil around the arrays are planted with native species supporting a healthy ecosystem and the posts are made of steel which are driven directly into the soil 6 to 10 feet deep with no need for use of concrete. The length of this solar project is 35 years. The capacity of this project is 300 Megawatts (MW) plus battery storage. Estimated start of construction is in the Spring of 2024 and target completion of construction is in the Fall of 2025. As mentioned earlier, 1600 acres will be used for this solar project and the interconnection will be with existing Xcel Energy 345 KV transmission line. The cool thing about this project of this scale is that it can be done to produce power at a competitive rate without subsidies or grants and compete with conventional generation. Any project that does not use federal or state grants or subsidies is a huge win!! No strings attached here.
TED Renewables did their due diligence for 12 to 18 months with many surveys and studies in taking the right steps forward not just because it's the right way of going about it but Wisconsin has a very rigorous regulatory process. Here is the list of the many surveys, analysis and studies they performed toward their due diligence and project design:
Wetland and Waterway Delineations
Threatened and Endangered Species Consultation with WDNR
Habitat Assessment Field Survey
Environmental Site Assessment
Cultural. Archeological and Historical Resource Survey
Glare Hazard Analysis
Road Conditions Survey and DOT Consultation
Noise Study and Consultation with Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW)
EMF Profile Study
Geotechnical Study
Economic Impact and land Use Analysis
Decommissioning Plan and Security
Whew, that is quite an exhausting list indeed. They will be applying for a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN). Any power generation projects of 100 MW or greater in size are reviewed and approved by PSCW. PSCW is a three person commission with energy project expertise will vote to approve or deny the CPCN application. This process takes about a year with the PSCW and the DNR in Wisconsin.
Lastly, let's look into the local economic benefits of Elk Creek Solar Project.
200 to 300 construction jobs during the one to two years construction process
3 to 5 permanent, high paying jobs during the 35+ year life project
$292 million long term investment in Dunn County, WI
$24.5 million + estimate revenue to Dunn County over 35+ years
$1.2 million additional benefits to Elk Mound Area School District
Now here is the breakdown of estimated revenue from the Elk Creek Solar Project:
Town of Spring Brook Annual $500,000 for a total of $17,500,000
Dunn County Annual $700,000 for a total of $24,500,000
Elk Mound Area School District Annual $60,000 for a total of $1,200,000
There were some great questions raised from various County Board Supervisors in regards to the solar project. A question on how much of the solar panels are recyclable once into the Decommissioning stage of project? Interestingly, solar paneling recycling is a growing industry in itself. Eighty percent by weight in which the glass, aluminum and other materials are recyclable. Next great question was about what kind of battery is used and it's storage capacity? It's a lithium ion battery with continuous four hours of maintaining power from system. And I'm thinking to myself,🤔 that's all?!? I was expecting a lot higher number. Always room for improvement, right? Another question in regards to location of battery storage. Apparently, it will be dispersed across the project site and not at a singular location with our solar inverters across entire site. And we had a question pop up of why stop after 35 years?? Well, the panels themselves are generally warrantied for about 35 years. 85% of maximum output is exhausted at the 35 year threshold. If landowner wishes to continue using land for solar use after the 35 year agreement can replace with alternative replacement panels. It was asked how the estimate revenue was calculated to benefit Spring Brook, Dunn County and EMASD. First of all, the amount is based on how many Megawatts times $4,000. So 300 MW x $4,000 comes to 1.2 million. The amount itself is set by state statue which is set in stone. The statue has been around for quite some time. So the revenue amount will not fluctuate.
If you have any questions or concerns about Elk Creek Solar Project as a citizen of Dunn County you can reach them by website, letter or by giving your public comments at an upcoming public hearing. Dylan Stickney can be reached at dstickney@tedrenewables.com. Ian Edwards at iedwards@tedrenewables.com or Eric Callisto at ejcallisto@michealbest.com. You can also call Anna Mewis who is the local project representative at 715-309-5921 or email info@elkcreeksolarproject.com. There website is www.ElkCreekSolarProject.com and you can find them on Facebook too!
After listening to their presentation I truly learned quite a few things about solar panels and how they can produce electricity. It sounds intriguing. It can be a great option to create revenue in our county. On the other hand, solar and wind energy is intermittent. The sun and wind does not produce 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That's why it’s so important to have an energy storage system with large capacities in which will help with the demands of peak hours of use within the community. Instead of banning current energy resources right away, we should be planning a strategic way to phase in alternative renewable energies looking at all the angles before phasing out any energy resources currently in place. After what happened in Texas last winter where renewable energies could not meet the demands of Texans in bitter cold temperatures ended up with lives being lost. And California continues to have outages despite renewable energies in place. California has shown the rest of the nation renewable energy is not very reliable. I am not against renewable energy, we just need to perfect it into becoming a reliable source to use. At this point, if we follow California our whole energy infrastructure will collapse. I could get into the lithium mining which disrupts the ecosystem where the lithium mining takes place but I will save that for another day.😉
On September 17th I felt like Anna Oakley, ok, I REALLY felt like the woman version of Rambo when I participated in this year's Women on Target at the Menomonie Shooting Range. I have been wanting to come to this event for several years BUT always had something else going on.🙃 Well, not this year! And boy, am I glad I went. I made lots of new friends and spent time with some very special friends who are all my Dunn County neighbors😃 Had a wonderful lunch prepared by KP Catering. There were many cool raffle door prizes to win. My good friend, Tina won two raffle drawings which was the start of a lucky streak when she hit the trap shoot station where she got 4 out of 4! As for I, that was not my Forte. But I must say, the AR-15 station ended up being my favorite place to hit the bullseye with great precision🎯 There were many different stations with different types of firearms to learn how to handle and shoot. There was a .22 revolver station, .38 revolver station, .22 rifle station, hunting rifle station, 9mm and .22 pistol station, muzzleloader station, military rifle station, and trap shoot station. And they also had an archery station. 🏹 After a few rounds shooting with the bow and arrow with not much luck I finally hit my first bear!
I couldn't resist to tease my hubby about getting a bear first before him for he has baited for bear a few years ago when he had a bear tag to fill but was unable to fill it. He is excellent in archery though. As for me, I am just a novice.
It was a great day to learn about firearm safety along with figuring out which firearm you are most comfortable with. It was a lot of fun being able to shoot many different firearms with different types of caliber. The military rifle definitely had the most impact than the other firearms that I used. The .22 semi-automatic Ruger though was the firearm I was most comfortable with and was fun to shoot.
A big shout out goes to Patti Miara who made it all happen and made sure each woman participant had an enjoyable experience. It was a great event with a great turnout! And if you are interested in finding out more great upcoming shooting events in the future please check out www.menomonierifleandpistolclub.org and go under the event field to find out what events may hit your trigger😁 There is a Ladyseed shooting event on October 15th and 16th this month! It's an Appleseed marksmanship clinic for woman only! If interested you can register on the above website along with more information about the event.
It's time to hit the road and check out the beautiful Fall colors decorating the leaves on the trees in Dunn County. Fall is a spectacular time to go out hiking, biking, walking or running to enjoy all the Fall beauty Dunn County has to offer.
From one Dunn County Neighbor to another - Happy Fall Dunn Days 🍁🍂🍁
Laurie J Christianson
Interesting and newsie today. :) Have you seen the new solar panels at the middle school? I just saw them for the first time last week. Not sure if there is a fence around them. Will have to pay more attention.