“A very dangerous situation to the public.”
It’s the description from Oklahoma Corporation Commission official Brandy Wreath regarding a Panhandle wind farm that has been allowed to exist with what he called “dangerous and dilapidated” wind turbines for several years. Some are burned out. Others have turbine hanging from their towers where there are no security fences.
Wreath, director of the Commission’s Public Utilities Division testified Wednesday about the former KODE Novus I and II wind farms located south of Guymon along state highway 207 near the Texas State line. The farms are now owned by investment firm Olympia Renewable Platform LLC which has offices in Dallas, Texas and Guymon.
He was so concerned about the dangers of the wind farm that he chose not to identify its specific location “because we don’t want people on the site.”
Wreath went before the three members of the commission asking for an emergency decommissioning of the wind farm operations that exist in Oklahoma. Some of the wind towers are also located in Texas across the state line.
“It’s a very dangerous situation to the public,” pleaded Wreath who described the damaged wind turbines and said he had never seen such conditions of a wind operation.
“Not in my time at the commission—this is a first,” he said, explaining that Sen. Casey Murdock’s office had been notified by a landowner and that Murdock in turn went to Wreath with the issue.
Wreath said he inspected the site on May 26 and used a drone to view the “dangerous or dilapidated turbines.” While he was on site, “I heard a sound, looked up and there was giant crack from the base all the way to the top” and he immediately ordered staff members to clear the site.
In his testimony, Wreath said two turbines are “completely burnt to a crisp at the top” but what concerns him most is the easy access that the public can get to the wind farm. There is no security fence and the landowner is at risk.
“A grandmother who drives by has seen one for 5 years but when she saw a new one, she became worried,” he added, trying to emphasize the immediate danger. “These are very ugly but I physically heard cracking.”
Wreath fears the towers could collapse on nearby roads and power lines and an adjacent hog farm could be struck as well. He doubts some of the towers and turbines can be rebuilt because of their dangerous conditions.
“We’ve had a company walk away from these turbines and the company has not provided us with any financial security—that’s why I didn’t want to take the time to go before an Administrative Law Judge.”
He spoke with a representative of the owner who indicated there had been discussion of “chopping the towers down like a tree” and confirmed some of the wind turbines and towers had been damaged for years.
“It gave me fear,” testified Wreath,” and what I saw made me uncomfortable. We can’t let it go on any longer.”
The KODE Novus I and II wind farms at one time consisted of about 60 turbines according to a website. The Novus Windpower LLC was formed in 2006 but eventually was acquired by Olympia Renewable.
While Wreath expressed concern and asked for the commission to order the company to halt all operations in a 10-day period, at least one commissioner expressed concerns about “tripping the trigger in 10 days.”
Commissioner Dana Murphy felt there is a “hole in the statute” that allows the regulatory body to decommission the wind farm.
In response, Wreath offered giving the firm 10 days to create a plan and 30 days to achieve some action to lessen the danger of the wind farm.
The commissioners decided to take no immediate formal action.