Wind energy project abandoned in Rice County after abrupt meeting cancellation

LYONS, Kan. (KWCH) — One day after NextEra Energy, one of the largest wind and solar energy companies in the world, abruptly canceled an informational meeting in Rice County, the Florida-based company confirmed that it has abandoned the windmill project it has been pursuing for two years.

On Friday, NextEra announced that they would officially abandon the proposed wind energy project in Rice County, Kansas. A spokesperson for the company shared a statement:

The statement referenced a one-year moratorium on wind and solar facilities that was passed by the county commission a month ago. The chairman of the Rice County Commission, Clay Thomas, said he’s puzzled by that, because NextEra already knew about the decision.

“We discussed it with them at the beginning. They said it wouldn’t kill the project. Monday, they were still planning on Thursday’s meeting. Last week, they were driving pylon at the proposed substation to test the soil,” Thomas said. “I mean, if I was going to make a guess, I’d say, somebody in Florida pulled the plug. And that’s (the moratorium is) your excuse.”

On Thursday evening, many people in Rice County showed up to the planned informational meeting, only to find that it had been canceled with little warning.

NextEra employees said that the decision to cancel the meeting came from the top. Employees at the event were left to explain to the attendees why the meeting was scrapped.

“Looks like everybody showed up. I think they were scared of having a little bit of touch-and-go with some rednecks,” said Max Albert, who had been planning to attend the meeting.

On Thursday, a NextEra spokesperson, Madison Scotese, was asked if the meeting would be rescheduled.

“At this point, we are going to continue working with the county, and we look forward to doing that,” said Scotese.

The next day, the company announced that they were no longer pursuing the project.

According to the NextEra website, the project was planned to include up to 106 wind turbines and would have began operations by May 2028. The turbines would have been located southeast of Lyons and capable of generating approximately 300 megawatts of renewable energy.

Thomas said he had listened to the pros and cons of the project over the last couple of years. He said that he understands water concerns, as well as landowner rights to do with their land what they wish.

Thomas said he just wants Rice County to prosper and to do right for the community.

The incident received national attention from the country music world, as John Rich, formally of the duo Big and Rich, zeroed in on Rice County and efforts against the project.

Rich said that water concerns regarding the project caught his attention.

“You look at stamping in hundreds of 600 foot tall windmills, stamping it right through that land into the aquifer. That seems like a major problem for farmers. And so, I began reaching out to people in the area and saying, ‘what are your thoughts on this?’ And the consensus coming back to me, the vast majority do not want this project going forward,” Rich said.

Thomas said that Rice County first heard about the project being abandoned through Rich’s announcement on Facebook.

Rice County reached out to NextEra for confirmation, but has not heard back.