Action Alert!
Tell your representatives you support Kansas Wind!
VOTE NO on SB 279
To watch the hearing live visit the Senate Utilities YouTube Page. You can also listen to the hearing on Statehouse Live audio feed. Click the link, scroll down to find the Senate Utilities Committee [548-S], and click the green “In Progress” button to connect to the live audio feed.
Background and talking points below
TAKE ACTION
Protect Kansas Wind! A hearing on a bill that would stop wind energy developmentwill be heard on Monday, March 22nd and Tuesday, March 23rd at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Utilities Committee. Proponents are testifying on Monday, and opponents are testifying on Tuesday.
Contact your Kansas legislator today and tell them to VOTE No on SB 279. Written testimony is due on Friday, March 19th at 1:30 p.m. – email your pdf testimony to Sheila.Wodtke@senate.ks.gov, and cc: takeaction@climateandenergy.org.
BACKGROUND AND TALKING POINTS
Wind power is largely responsible for our 40% decline in carbon emissions. A new “Economic Impacts of Kansas Wind Energy” report indicates Kansas counties and landowners with leases will receive $1.51 Billion dollars in direct economic benefits for wind farms operating at the end of 2020.
Kansas has benefitted from 9,000 direct jobs during construction and operation and another 12,000 indirect and induced jobs thanks to this growing industry. Wind turbine service technician jobs are projected to be the fastest growing occupation in the US between 2019-2029.
Key provisions of this ten-page bill include some of the most restrictive regulations in the United States. The regulations* are even retroactive: Any wind lease signed after July 1, 2011 is subject to a whole new host of rules, including being invalidated if construction has not started or an interconnection agreement is not signed.
Contact your Kansas legislator today and tell them to VOTE No on SB 279. Written testimony is due on Friday, March 19th at 1:30 p.m. – email your pdf testimony to Sheila.Wodtke@senate.ks.gov, and cc: takeaction@climateandenergy.org
This bill is not designed to help protect the safety and welfare of Kansans, but to stop wind development completely. Contact your Representative and Senator today and tell them to VOTE No on SB 279. We need continued growth in renewable energy to support our economic recovery and protect our environment.
*Additional turbine setbacks
- 12 x system height (turbine tower plus to tip of blade) or 7920 feet from residential property or public building
- 20 x system height or 15,840 feet from airport, federal wildlife refuge, public hunting area or public park
- 10 times system height or 5,280 feet from property line of a nonparticipant
- These requirements impact zoned or unzone land in a county equally
- Requires noise limits of 40 decibels
- Can’t have more than 1 turbine per square mile
- Requires shadow flicker modeling for all turbines 1 mile away from occupied structures.
Thank you for taking action for a healthier Kansas energy future!
