Green power company, Enel Green Power plans on appealing a federal judge’s ruling ordering Enel to remove 84 wind turbines built without permission in Osage County.
The judge gave the company one year to remove the turbines, a move that Enel estimates will cost $300 million.
“Although we respect the decision of the Federal District Court regarding the future of the Osage Wind project, we strongly disagree with the Court’s ruling that the wind project must be removed by December 1, 2025, and will seek a stay pending appellate review,” stated a spokesman in an email response to OK Energy Today.
The Osage Mineral Council had asked for tens of millions of dollars in damages but Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves awarded damage of more than $300,000. Enel Green Power responded by saying any removal of the turbines would harm residents of the county.
“Osage Wind operates for the benefit of the local community, providing funds for Osage area schools every year. Furthermore, farmers, ranchers and other Osage landowners benefit from the rents accrued by leasing their private property as part of the project, and the region benefits from enough clean, renewable energy to power 50,000 homes.”
The spokesman said the “ejection of the wind farm would adversely impact these economic and environmental benefits to the local community.”
The judge found Enel Green Power and its subsidiaries, Osage Wind, LLC and Enel Kansas, LLC had not obtained mineral permits from the Osage Minerals Council before it started construction nearly 13 years ago. The Council filed suit in 2011 and the U.S. government joined the effort.