Colorado Springs farm gets go-ahead from county
Source: By Ryan Maye Handy, Colorado Springs Gazette • Posted: Monday, February 9, 2015
Commissioners in El Paso County, Colo., unanimously approved a wind farm yesterday just minutes before midnight, nearly 15 hours after beginning a meeting on the controversial project.
A stream of local residents voiced their support and opposition to the project. Many in the Greater Colorado Springs area raised concerns about property values, views and health effects that could arise from NextEra Energy Resources’ plan to alter the route of a 29-mile aboveground power line across the plains.
County commissioners initially denied NextEra’s project, which would add 145 450-foot-tall wind turbines in the area, based on the company’s lack of community input and concerns over health risks after NextEra took over the project from another company.
NextEra was allowed to reapply, dividing neighbors in the area over the power line even after the commissioners’ decision.
Resident John Field changed his mind on the project because of his support for increasing sustainable energy, while resident Amber Costa resented the company’s outreach efforts.
“If they are coming in here claiming to be neighbors, then they are not going about it in the right way,” she said