PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER Tama County’s only commercial wind turbines — part of the Vienna Wind Farm south of Gladbrook — pictured at dusk in late February. While the Vienna project has been in operation in Tama and Marshall Counties for more than a decade, the unrelated Salt Creek Wind project has been in some form of early stage development in central Tama County for at least 15 years and is currently embroiled in at least one lawsuit.

TOLEDO — Two point five (2.5) million dollars. That’s the amount in additional project costs NextEra Energy Resources estimates will be incurred per month if their Salt Creek Wind project is delayed this spring due to the uncertainty caused by Tama County’s wind energy conversion systems (WECS) moratorium enacted in January.

It is the latest development in a lawsuit filed Feb. 5 by Salt Creek Wind, LLC (SCW) – the central Tama County wind energy project acquired last year by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC – against the Tama County Board of Supervisors and Tama County seeking “declaratory judgment” (a decision clarifying the legal rights/obligations of the parties involved) on three counts (a fourth was recently dismissed by the plaintiffs) following the Jan. 6 decision by the Supervisors to enact a moratorium.

“Salt Creek Wind is actively engaged in construction and development of the Project and is targeting substantial completion as early as by the end of this year,” Dexter Liu, assistant vice president of SCW, said in a statement submitted March 31 in Tama County District Court in response to the Supervisors’ March 17 motion to dismiss the case. “The existence of the Moratorium and the uncertainty created by it is harming Salt Creek wind in a number of ways.”

The moratorium inflicts harm, Liu alleged, by negatively impacting 1) business opportunities (with regulated electric utilities looking to buy energy); 2) turbine allocation and planning; and 3) construction activities and costs.

“Sixty (60) wind turbines have been purchased at a total cost of over $140 million and allocated to this project,” Liu said. “Cancelling [sic] the turbines and/or attempting to reallocate the turbines to other projects would come at a significant cost.”

Contractual costs alone, Liu continued, for the 29 turbines the company already purchased in December would exceed $70 million.

“Constructing a project like Salt Creek involves an enormous amount of daily work, which must be sequenced and scheduled in a very complex, integrated fashion,” he added.

Anyone who has driven past a wind turbine blade in transport on the highway or interstate has a rough idea of what Liu is referring to here. It’s no small endeavor.

“The turbine blades are each over 150 feet long, and the turbine tower is transported in three sections totaling over 250 feet,” Liu continued. “Their transportation and storage require extensive planning and coordination. … Project uncertainty that affects even one aspect of the project has a ripple effect on other aspects of the project.”

Such “ripples,” Liu said, will lead to additional project costs..

“It has been estimated that delays on this Project will cost roughly $2.5 million per month in construction-related costs alone, made up of approximately $1 million per month in general and administrative expenses and associated delay and acceleration costs, $1.3 million per month in crane rentals, and $200,000 in other costs.”

Supervisors’ motion to dismiss, construction stay

On March 17, the Tama County Board of Supervisors, through their attorneys, filed a motion to dismiss SCW’s claims “for want of jurisdiction.”

“[T]he claims in this case are not ripe because Tama County has not yet made a final decision as to whether or how the challenged moratorium applies to Plaintiff Salt Creek Wind, LLC, thereby depriving this Court of jurisdiction over this case,” the Supervisors state.

In a brief filed in support of the motion to dismiss, the Supervisors further fleshed out their argument for dismissal.

“To address constituent concerns, and to comply with Iowa law, the Board of Supervisors enacted a Moratorium on wind projects, providing time for review and potential amendments to the county’s zoning ordinances. Thereafter, Salt Creek Wind, LLC (“Salt Creek”) immediately demanded an amendment to expressly exempt its project from the Moratorium, and the Supervisors asked for more information about the project. Rather than answer the Supervisor’s questions, Salt Creek sued. Salt Creek’s various challenges to the Moratorium do not present a justiciable controversy because its claims are not ripe for judicial review. Consequently, the Court lacks jurisdiction, and the claims must be dismissed.”

Also in the brief, the “ripeness” grounds in the case are further explored.

“To be ripe, there must be ‘a substantial controversy between parties having adverse legal interests of sufficient immediacy and reality to warrant a declaratory judgement’,” the Supervisors argue in quoting a 2020 Iowa Court of Appeals decision involving One Iowa (a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization) and Gov. Kim Reynolds/State of Iowa in which One Iowa sought declaratory judgment in regard to an amendment to the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Due to the dispute involving “administrative and zoning regulations,” the Supervisors contend, “the ripeness doctrine restrains courts from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements over policies” until an administrative decision has been made. “Salt Creek’s apparent belief the Moratorium might apply is insufficient to make the controversy ripe.”

The brief also mentions the Sept. 2024 decision by Tama County Zoning Administrator Bob Vokoun to approve 60 zoning certificates (permits) for the SCW project – a decision that was subsequently appealed by Tama County resident Bev Espenscheid. During a public hearing regarding Espenscheid’s appeal held on Nov. 12, 2024, the Board of Adjustment affirmed Vokoun’s issuance of the certificates in a 3-2 vote.

The appeal decision was addressed this past week during the Monday, April 7 meeting of the Tama County Board of Supervisors.

According to draft minutes of the meeting, the Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution instructing the Board of Adjustment to “reconsider the appeal regarding the zoning administrator’s September 2024 decision issuing zoning certificates to Salt Creek Wind, LLC. … At the same hearing, the Board of Adjustment may, but is not required to, consider the appeal related to the December 2024 extensions to Salt Creek Wind, LLC, as well as the 2020 Conditional Use Permit.”

The resolution further states the Supervisors will seek a stay of both the SCW lawsuit and the lawsuit lodged against the Board of Adjustment by Espenscheid, while also seeking “orders staying construction” by SCW.

Salt Creek Wind project schedule

According to court documents, foundation excavation for the SCW turbine sites is scheduled to begin in May of this year and last through November, while installation of power lines from the sites to the substation(s) is scheduled for July through September.