Osage County Commission recently voted to restrict their county residents from producing energy over 30kW. Instead of just addressing wind and solar projects that claim hundreds or thousands of acres, they killed the opportunity for smaller projects that serve the local community and save local residents hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The decision came when the county commission said no to a large commercial wind project, which is nothing like the project FreeState brought to the county for consideration. However, the project was included in the fight against wind energy, even though it is vastly different.
FreeState has been working with Evergy to build local solar arrays to help offset the need to purchase power from Evergy directly. That power is a blended cost depending on the generation mix and fuel costs. And, if you have not noticed, fuel costs – specifically natural gas – are incredibly high right now, causing the power cost adjustment (PCA) to increase significantly for our members with no reprieve in sight. Solar power can be bought at about half the cost, saving significant money.
FreeState members are served by similar solar arrays that put power onto the local grid – a completed site in Jefferson and Leavenworth Counties and two nearing completion in Shawnee County. These arrays save money and contribute to local reliability because they serve nearby members. The distribution level project was proposed on 8.7 acres and designed with the least disturbance to the area possible. It would connect to the Carbondale substation, which powers 1,178 members, and 11% of Osage County.
In addition, Evergy has taken great care in proposing a site with low environmental impact and a site that will be hidden from plain view. The site will also be filled with native grasses and will promote pollinators.
While this site may not have been approved, FreeState continues to work for members to find ways to save on the cost of wholesale power.