What Kansas counties are open to new wind energy projects?

LAWRENCE (KSNT) – Researchers at the University of Kansas have created a new resource identifying which counties may be open to new opportunities for generating wind energy.

KU announced in a recent publication that researchers are rolling out the Kansas Energy Transition Atlas which contains important regulatory information regarding wind energy gathered from all 105 counties in the state. The atlas identifies the different policy approaches used across Kansas to either enable or block wind energy development.

Landowners, local officials, developers and others can now use the site to learn more about wind energy in a specific county. Some of the information listed in the atlas includes the number of turbines already in place and transmission lines.

“When it comes to wind potential, even the county in Kansas with the least wind potential still has more potential than virtually every county east of the Appalachians,” said Ward Lyles, professor of public affairs & administration at KU and one of the study’s authors. “Most Kansas counties are realizing that this is an economic improvement opportunity and that wind and agriculture are not mutually exclusive.”

Researchers found that around 70% of counties in Kansas have regulations in place with about one-fourth to one-third having regulations in place to block wind projects. Around 40% of Kansas counties have regulations to enable the development of wind energy. Researchers asked two questions when putting the atlas together to help guide the study.

• How do regulations of wind facilities vary at the county level?
• What factors appear to explain the variation?

Researchers describe Kansas as having a “patchwork quilt” of regulations in place in the results of the study. They hope the Kansas Energy Transition Atlas can help people navigate the varying regulation differences from one county to the next.

“What we’re doing in Kansas could propagate to the benefit of the entire Plains region as it has the most wind potential in the nation,” Lyles said. “For counties to be able to see how other counties form their wind energy regulations helps. In the age of social media, decision-makers encounter limited fact checking and even strategic disinformation. With a tool like this, policymakers can see exactly what is working or not in their neighboring counties. It can also tell them what the next topics of debate will be and what to expect. It can provide clarity on one piece of the bigger puzzle and help guide better decisions.”

You can access the atlas by clicking here.

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