Carroll County board approves road-use amendment as Silver Queen Wind Farm advances interconnection and construction plans

The Carroll County Board of Supervisors approved a first amendment to its road‑use and maintenance agreement with Silver Queen Wind Farm LLC and received an update from the project team on the wind farm’s schedule, equipment choices and landowner negotiations.

The amendment, described by county staff as a minor set of changes to allow easier rights of egress on gravel roads and to permit certain crane crossings during construction, was approved by motion and voice vote with no recorded opposition. The board’s action was presented as a first amendment to the existing road‑use and maintenance agreement with Silver Queen Wind Farm LLC.

Silver Queen representatives said the project remains a roughly 252‑megawatt wind farm with about 58 turbines planned; the company expects 33 turbines in Carroll County and 25 in neighboring Crawford County. Zach Lasik, a project manager with Silver Queen, said the developer is currently finalizing an interconnection agreement with the Southwest Power Pool that would allow the project to inject full capacity onto the transmission grid and that the interconnection paperwork should be executed in about a month. Lasik said the developer is also selecting a construction contractor; three U.S. contractors visited the site and are expected to bid.

Lasik said the team is working with roughly 350 landowners who have signed up for the project, and that some earlier lease and easement agreements are being amended to extend development terms so construction can proceed. He estimated that the majority of construction will occur in 2027, with pre‑construction meetings with the county likely in late 2026 or early 2027.

On the road‑use topic, county staff and Silver Queen representatives said the amendment is intended to make crossings on gravel roads more efficient by allowing assembled crane crossings in some places; staff emphasized paved roads would remain protected and that crane mats and ditch filling would be used to limit damage on gravel roads. The presenters described the change as more restrictive than a neighboring county’s approach in some respects and said they did not expect detriment to county roads.

A board member asked whether the turbines would be the 590‑foot machines that had been discussed at a previous board of adjustment meeting; Silver Queen confirmed the 590‑foot height is expected for this project. Board members also asked about an operations base and staging areas; Silver Queen said the construction laydown yard and spare‑parts storage would be in Crawford County and that a permanent operations and maintenance building will be located adjacent to the project substation, also in Crawford County.

When asked about project cost, Silver Queen said the rough project cost is about $610 million. On federal incentives and tax credits, the company said recent federal guidance changed qualifying rules for credits but that, because Silver Queen is a late‑stage project, it currently expects to qualify for available tax credits and that the recent administrative guidance has not materially affected this project.

The board’s vote to approve the first amendment to the road use and maintenance agreement occurred during the “secondary roads” agenda item and was taken by motion, second and voice vote; the motion carried.

The board did not adopt any additional conditions on the agreement during the meeting. Silver Queen asked to return to the county later for pre‑construction coordination, and county staff indicated future pre‑construction meetings would be scheduled nearer the start of mobilization.