Trimont Wind I, LLC, submitted an application for a site permit to construct and operate an LWECS, as defined in Minnesota Stat. �116C.691. The Project is located in Martin and Jackson counties and will be up to 100.5 MW in size, consisting of as many as 67 wind turbine generators.

 

Trimont also applied concurrently for a Certificate of Need from the PUC. With agreements from PUC and Trimont, EQB prepared the Environment Report at the CON stage, as laid out in Minnesota Rules 4410.

The principal tasks are to track programs of the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and related issues, and to prepare an annual report to the legislature. This reporting began in 1989.

When the Power Plant Siting Act was passed in 1973, the EQB was granted the authority to adopt rules to implement the requirements of the Act. Minnesota Statutes section 116C.66. The EQB first adopted rules for power plant siting in 1974. Minnesota Rules MEQB 71-75. These rules have been amended several times since and are now found at Minnesota Rules chapter 4400. On May 21, 2001, the Legislature passed a comprehensive energy bill that included significant changes in the Power Plant Siting Act. The bill was signed into law by Governor Ventura on May 29, 2001.