NDPSC grants waiver for PrairieWinds 1 light mitigation requirement

In December 2021, the North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC) granted Basin Electric a waiver of the requirement to install light mitigating technology at its PrairieWinds 1 project near Minot, North Dakota. The U.S. Air Force was concerned that radar-based light mitigation technology could pose security and safety threats around the intercontinental ballistic missile sites in the northwest part of the state.

In 2017, the North Dakota Legislature passed a law requiring installation of light-mitigating technology at wind farms to reduce artificial lighting in the night sky. In 2019, the legislature added an option for a waiver of the requirement. Basin Electric worked diligently to research technologies in order to comply with the requirement.

Because the only commercially available light-mitigating technology available is radar-based and the Air Force is in opposition, the NDPSC determined that approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was unlikely. For that reason, the NDPSC granted a conditional waiver with the requirement that Basin Electric review FAA-approved light-mitigating technology every three years and provide a report to the NDPSC to determine if the waiver should be extended based on continued technical infeasibility, or if an acceptable light mitigation technology can be installed at PrairieWinds 1.

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