Wilton IV Wind Energy Center Draft Environmental Impact Statement DOE/EIS-0469 March 2013 COVER SHEET Lead Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration Title: Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Wilton IV Wind Energy Center For additional information on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement contact: Mr. Matt Marsh Upper Great Plains Regional Office Western Area Power Administration P.O. Box 35800, Billings, MT 59107-5800
[email protected], (800) 358-3415 For general information on the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Environmental Policy Act process please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-54) U.S. Department of Energy Washington, D.C. 20585 (202) 586-4600 Abstract: W estern Area Power Administration (Western) prepared this draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) in response to a request from NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NextEra), on behalf of its subsidiary Wilton W ind IV, LLC (Wilton IV), to interconnect its proposed Wilton IV Wind Energy Center (Project) to Western’s power transmission system. The proposed Project is a wind turbine generation facility located in Burleigh County, North Dakota. It would consist of 62 wind turbine generators, with a total nameplate capacity of approximately 99 MW. NextEra has also requested that the existing interconnection contracts for the Wilton Wind I Energy Center (formerly known as Burleigh County Wind), Wilton Wind II Energy Center, and the Baldwin Wind Energy Center (together called the Existing Projects) be modified to lift their administrative 50 average annual MW production caps. This DEIS includes a description of the proposed Project and analyzes the impacts associated with the proposed construction, operation, and decommissioning of the W ilton IV Project and lifting the administrative 50 average annual MW cap on the Existing Projects.