Developers push to exempt temporary met towers; commissioners split on approach

At the Planning Commission hearing, Swift Current Energy asked the county to explicitly exempt temporary meteorological towers from the proposed moratorium so early‑stage wind‑resource testing can continue.

In written comments read by staff, the company argued that met towers are temporary data‑collection structures that do not commit the developer to a project and that allowing them would not undermine a pause on siting and permitting. Joey Shannon, who attended the meeting, told the commission that early outreach began in late 2024 and that the project now involves roughly 70–80 families and about 20,000 acres; he said temporary towers are a “key development milestone” to study wind flow and feasibility and requested an explicit exemption.

Several residents who spoke said they had signed leases with developers and would lose anticipated income if project staging were blocked. Elizabeth Arns told the commission landowners around her are “already getting paid for a lease of a land… like $30,000 a year plus our lease payment.” Amy, Land Services staff, clarified that very large projects above state thresholds are regulated by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and that the county’s permitting authority would mainly apply to met towers and smaller projects. Commissioners debated allowing towers with an explicit end‑date or leaving the draft language as written; no final amendment was made at the hearing.