Dusty Fox project comes to light
Sep. 15—OTTUMWA — In four years, the nighttime skies near the Jefferson-Keokuk-Wapello county lines could be blinking like a Christmas tree.
At least that is the goal, according to Apex Clean Energy.
During a rural infrastructure forum at Wednesday's Eggs and Issues event at Hotel Ottumwa, Apex Public Engagement Organizer Corey Eberling revealed a few details regarding the Dusty Fox Wind project. Other utility company officials also were in attendance to talk about the future of rural infrastructure, from the search for qualified workers to fiber-optic installation.
Officials from Dusty Wind had appeared at previous Wapello County Board of Supervisors meetings, but few details had been shared because the project was in its infancy. However, Eberling, a former Franklin County supervisor who has experience with wind farms, shed some light on the project.
"For the last year, year and a half, renewables keep getting lumped in with carbon dioxide pipelines, and it's just a battle we have to face," Eberling said. "We just have to educate people that with wind and solar, we don't use eminent domain. It's all voluntary."
Eberling said that between 66 and 100 wind turbines will be installed in southern Keokuk, northeast Wapello and northwest Jefferson counties, with the goal of them coming online starting in 2027. According to the project's website, there is the potential to produce 400 megawatts of energy, which is enough to power 151,000 homes.
The project would also create about 15 full-time local jobs and bring in plenty of revenue over about 30 years, which would benefit Wapello County and other areas struggling to find revenue sources. Mostly, farmers and landowners have been receptive to the project, Eberling said.
Studies have also shown a minimal effect on property values as a result of turbines.
"Do we have some people that are against wind or solar? Yes," he said. "We all have our preferences, but we have been very well-received. So that is going very well for us. We do try to go to those supervisor meetings to say what's going on.
"But you definitely have to have very trustworthy, very honest land agents," Eberling said. "But even if some don't like it, they can respect their neighbors' right to choose and use their property as they see fit.'
Apex does not make its own turbines, but will enlist Vestas or General Electric to produce them, or other companies. However, how the turbines are built depends on the contours of the land, Eberling said.
"Once we get to that engineering phase, we look at topography and sometimes that affects sound," he said. "So we work with that and try to come up with the best wind turbine design to suit the situation. We need to tailor turbines to the project area."
He later said turbines run at about 55 decibels, or about the volume of an outdoor air conditioning unit.
Natalie Hopf, marketing manager for Mahaska Communication Group, talked about her company's evolution from a Musco Lighting need to its own company.
"Twenty years ago, we decided there were so many place that didn't have access to fiber internet, so we built out the community of Oskaloosa, and from there, the last five or six years, we've spread into several communities," she said. "We're now in New Sharon, Montezuma, Grinnell, and we're building out Newton right now.
"And we've now started our underground work here in Ottumwa."
Alliant Energy, which senior account executive David Vollmar has a clientele in the state that is "basically a reverse C," said the company is in the process of moving its 20,000 miles of line throughout the state underground.
"We can't just snap our fingers and have everything, though we'd like to do that," he said. "We're also doing solar projects. Right now we're about 52.7% of our portfolio is in renewables."
Scott Arnold of ITC Midwest, which isn't on the front end of utilities but works with other utility companies, said finding linemen has been a big challenge for the company.
"It seems like there's an aging workforce there, but that's something I'd think we're all kind of faced with here," he said. "The group has tribal knowledge, I guess, because they're exiting the workforce and we got new people coming that don't quite have that knowledge. I personally have a position that's been open for about six months, and we've had a hard time finding somebody."
Alliant Energy, as big of a company as it is, also is struggling for workers.
"We have 1,557 employees throughout the state, and we're struggling to find employees in every facet," Vollmar said. "The average lineman makes up to $38 per hour. They are wonderful jobs. We need everything."
— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury
