Commission sends wind rules update to governor
Emergency rules adopted by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission that are designed to meet new reporting requirements for wind farm developers were sent Wednesday to Gov. Mary Fallin for her review and approval. Generally, the changes update commission rules aimed to clarify the process developers must follow to notify appropriate authorities of their plans. Those changes were needed after Gov. Fallin signed a measure the Legislature approved in 2018 that requires developers to notify the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission of their projects so that it, in turn, can submit those plans to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse. Before the law change, developers already were required to submit their plans to both the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration. Developers still are required to submit their plans to both the Corporation Commission and the FAA, which routinely consults with the clearinghouse before granting no flight hazard designations to projects that could impact readiness by creating navigational hazards in military bases’ airspace corridors. Supporters of the law have argued that formally involving the state’s strategic military planning commission in the process would speed up those reviews. The issue was brought to the forefront by projects NextEra
Energy Resources subsidiaries were building near Hinton, which critics said could interfere with airspace used by an Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Backers of the law also asserted NextEra had violated commission rules because it had began building turbine towers that hadn’t yet received required flight hazard clearances from the FAA, adding the measure Fallin approved would require clearance notifications before work could start on any future projects.
However, that law change clashes with federal rules that allow turbine construction work within pending wind projects if turbine towers stay below a maximum height level while clearances are pending. The Corporation Commission’s rules still state a developer only is in violation if it starts to build a project before notification and public meeting requirements have been met.
While that aspect of the rules was not amended by commissioners in this emergency update, it has led to a threat of litigation between the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission and NextEra.
NextEra, however, agreed to stop building the turbines until appropriate clearances are attained and continues to work with the clearinghouse to attain those, state officials said Wednesday.
Mark Yates, Oklahoma director of the Wind Coalition, said Wednesday his organization’s members believe corporation commissioners did a good job of evaluating the various arguments before adopting the proposed emergency rule changes.
“The commissioners and staff have been very diligent and thoughtful throughout the process, and have stayed within the spirit of the law,” Yates said.