Planning commission approves Yarrow Tech solar and wind conditional-use permits after update and public comment

The Pennington County Planning Commission on Oct. 27 approved two conditional-use permit reviews for Yarrow Tech's utility-scale energy proposals after receiving a project update from company representatives and hearing multiple public comments.

Mark, a Yarrow Tech representative, told the commission the company established a federal "safe harbor" for the project by spending 5 percent of capital costs on equipment, which Mark said equates to about $10,000,000 for the roughly 200-megawatt scale project. He described an interconnection path to the Underwood substation and said the team had resolved a dispute about the width of a transmission access corridor: Southwest Power Pool initially indicated a 125-foot corridor but Yarrow Tech reported it obtained transmission-owner and Western Area…