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Morrison County planning commission backs one-year moratorium on community solar and wind projects
Summary
The planning commission on March 31 recommended the county adopt a one-year interim ordinance to pause new community solar, solar farm and wind energy conversion project approvals in unincorporated Morrison County while a working group updates the comp plan and ordinance; industry requested meteorological towers be exempted.
The Morrison County Planning Commission on March 31 voted to recommend that the County Board adopt an interim ordinance imposing a one-year moratorium on community solar energy systems, solar farms and wind energy conversion systems in unincorporated areas while the county reviews its comprehensive plan and development regulations.
Amy, land services staff, told the commission the moratorium is intended to "preserve the status quo" while policy and ordinance language are reviewed and that it would establish a working group of county and community representatives to study renewable energy siting and regulations. The draft moratorium would cover meteorological towers used to vet wind projects and would exclude applications received by land services before February 10, 2026.
Industry and community voices were split. Joey Shannon of Swift Current Energy urged the commission to "explicitly exempt temporary meteorological towers" because those towers are "temporary in nature, do not represent a commitment to project development" and are used only for early-stage site data collection. In contrast, several residents urged caution and supported the moratorium: one commenter cited past developer failures in utility-scale projects and argued the county needs time to update rules and to include independent expertise on a working group. Elizabeth Arns, a landowner in Morell Township, told the commission she opposes the moratorium because many landowners have signed leases for a wind project and she emphasized the local economic benefits, saying lease payments and investment would be significant.
Commissioners debated specifics including whether to exempt meteorological towers, the appropriate size and composition of the working group, and the practical date alignment between the February 10 application cutoff and the proposed April 7 moratorium start. After discussion Commissioner Clint moved to recommend the moratorium language as presented; the motion passed on a roll call and the recommendation will go to the County Board for consideration on April 7, 2026.
Provenance: Staff presentation, written comments from the Center for Rural Affairs and Swift Current Energy, public testimony and commission deliberation are recorded on the March 31 transcript (topic introduced SEG 637; discussion and recommendation through SEG 1788).
