It's Getting Windier in Dodge, Mower and Goodhue Counties

By Brett Boese
The Post-Bulletin, Austin MN

ST. PAUL — Two wind farms projects in southeast Minnesota took another step forward Thursday at the Capitol, much to the chagrin of their vocal opponents.

Despite protests from opponents, the 300-megawatt project in Dodge and Mower counties proposed by Pleasant Valley Wind and the 78-megawatt project planned in Goodhue County by AWA Goodhue Wind both received a Certificate of Need and a preliminary draft site permit from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

While the PUC did require that both wind companies allow for an expanded scope of public hearings moving forward based on intense public interest, it was — as both sides expected heading in — a victory for the wind farms as the state pursues its goal of using 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.

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