How did you choose our community for this project?
Your county is a prime location for wind energy because of its abundant wind supply, compatible land use with ranching and farming, and grid accessibility.
With this, your community has the ability to produce a large amount of clean, reliable, and affordable energy which will help strengthen the American electric grid while creating new jobs in your community and across the country.
What is your siting process and what factors do you consider when selecting property for wind?
Many factors contribute to the selection of property for wind, including:
- Size
- Topography
- Proximity to a utility substation
- Status of local electric infrastructure
- Presence of wetlands and sensitive habits or species
- Wind energy potential
Once a site is chosen, Steelhead will work with the community to determine reasonable setback standards to balance the rights of property owners and ensure minimal visual impact for the community. Additionally, we’ll work with state and local agencies to prevent impacts to aviation, military installations, sensitive habitats, and other infrastructure.
What are our community’s zoning compliances?
Securing necessary zoning approval is an essential step for all energy projects. The process for acquiring a zoning permit varies across counties. Typically, wind facilities are allowed in industrially zoned areas. Learn more about zoning practices here.
How do you factor environmental considerations into siting and development processes?
Steelhead considers many environmental factors during our siting and development phases, including:
- Wetland protection
- Contaminants and groundwater protection
- Erosion and sediment control
- Wildlife protection
To ensure safe, responsible development and minimal environmental impact, all Steelhead projects will meet federal, state and local environmental regulations.
To learn more, view our source material here:
How do you factor in siting on/around culturally and historically significant sites?
Steelhead is committed to respecting culturally and historically significant sites. For each project, we consult with organizations at the federal, state, and local level to determine appropriate siting that does not negatively impact cultural or historical entities. Additionally, we work with subject matter expert, state-registered archeologists, to identify resources warranting management consideration.
How do you plan to keep our community involved during the development process?
We are proud to take an active role in working with landowners, agencies, and partners throughout the development process. A community approach is ingrained into our mission and we welcome opportunities to learn the history, vision, and realities of where you live.
We keep landowners and communities informed of project news and any actions that might relate to your property, business, or day-to-day activities. For example, we connect with community members and leaders in the local area, host open houses and webinars, visit local schools, and attend public events.
We work with you to create a successful project for your community and provide opportunities for you to get to know us, learn more about the wind project, and understand how we plan to bring major economic benefits to your community.
How do you work with local organizations (fire districts, first responders) to ensure responsible, safe development?
Steelhead works with local defense organizations to:
- Safely and properly site wind projects
- Ensure adequate roadway access to the project
- Ensure communication channels are set in the event of an incident
- Receive comments on the site plan from the Fire District before applying for a building permit
Will project construction lead to increased traffic? Will it damage roadways?
To minimize impact on local traffic, our developers will work with local municipalities to analyze traffic flow and schedule road closures. We’ll notify schools and first responders to set construction hours and communicate about scheduling.
Additionally, we prepare a traffic impact analysis to determine existing conditions of roadways. Oftentimes, roads may need to be widened or improved to accommodate wind project parts deliveries. We will bear the cost of any changes or damages to roads, as well as restoration of public roads after construction.
During regular maintenance and operations, traffic on an operating wind farm is limited to light-duty vehicles.
