Arkansas regulators are in the midst of attempting to create new rules on wind farm development in the state. And one of the issues is one that’s produced some political anxiety at the Oklahoma state capitol—setbacks.
The Public Servic Commission in Arkansas started taking public comments on a new law, Act 945 of 2025 that directed the PSC to “establish standards and criteria for permitting and regulating wind energy facilities and to promote, preserve, and protect the public peace, health, safety, and welfare through effective permitting and regulation of wind energy facilities,” according to the PSC docket.
Regulators will have to create the rules and implement them by Jan. 1, 2026 or “as soon as practical,” according to the docket. The commission will hear initial public comments by Nov. 6 and a hearing on the proposed rules will be held Dec. 11.
Comments can be viewed and submitted onlineat the PSC website, referencing PSC Docket 25-063-R.
As drawn up by the Arkansas legislature, the rules will include required setbacks of wind turbines, an issue that continues to be debated and the source of legislative hearings in the Oklahoma legislature.
The new law in Arkansas will require a minimum setback for a wind turbine “from a nonparticipating landowner’s property line shall be equal to the greater of: (A) Three and five-tenths (3.5) times the total height of the wind turbine as measured from the ground at its base to the maximum height of the blade tip; and
(B)(i) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(1)(B)(ii) of this section, two thousand five hundred feet (2,500′).”
The new law also stated,
“(ii) A nonparticipating landowner may elect to sign a waiver to allow a wind turbine or group of wind turbines of a wind energy
facility to be placed up to one and one-tenth (1.1) times the total height of the wind turbine as measured from the ground at its base to the maximum height of the blade tip from the nonparticipating landowner’s property line;
and
(2) The minimum setback for the base of a wind turbine of a wind
energy facility shall be one (1) mile from any of the following places existing at the time the application for the permit is filed:
(A) A public or private school;
(B) A hospital;
(C) A nursing home facility;
(D) A church;
(E) The limits of a city or town;
(F) A state or federal park; and
(G) A public airport.”