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• Wind

Wind

In 2008 the Basin Electric board of directors established two for-profit subsidiaries, PrairieWinds ND 1 Inc. and PrairieWinds SD 1 Inc. to develop wind projects in North Dakota and South Dakota.

South Dakota

PrairieWinds SD 1 Inc., was formed to develop wind projects in South Dakota.  PrairieWinds SD 1 wind project is currently in the engineering and permitting stages.

Basin Electric is in the process of developing a 151.5-megawatt wind project in central South Dakota. As part of that process, two public hearings are being held.

Hearing on draft Environmental Impact Statement

The first open house and hearing will be Feb. 11 for the public to offer comments regarding the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued Jan. 15, 2010. The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Western Area Power Administration (Western) issued the draft EIS because Basin Electric requested to interconnect the proposed project with Western’s transmission system, and PrairieWinds SD 1 requested RUS financing for the project.

The draft EIS is available for public review at libraries in Chamberlain, Kimball, Plankinton, Wessington Springs and Winner, SD. It is also available at the project Web site www.wapa.gov/transmission/sdprairiewinds.htm.

The hearing will be held at Cozard Memorial Library, 110 E. Lawler Ave., Chamberlain, SD. The open house begins at 4 p.m. CST and the hearing will be 5-7 p.m. CST.

Representatives from RUS and Western will be available to take comments from the public.

SD Public Utilities Commission hearing

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is hosting a public hearing on the proposed PrairieWinds SD 1 project.

On Dec. 30, 2009, Basin Electric filed an application with the South Dakota PUC for a facility permit for the construction of the wind project. The project includes 101, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines located
approximately 10-15 miles north of the city of White Lake, SD.

The public hearing will be March 1 at 6:30 p.m. CST at White Lake American Legion, 104 S. Main Street, White Lake, SD.

The purpose of the hearing is to inform the public about the proposed project and to hear comments regarding PrairieWinds’ application.

The public is encouraged to attend the meetings to learn more about the proposed project and provide comments.

Purchased power wind generation

Basin Electric has also contracted to purchase the generation from NextEra's Day County Wind Farm, currently under construction in South Dakota.

Status: January 2010