Comments Needed on Proposed 400 Wind Turbine Project in Magic Valley

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX)-The public can now comment on a proposed 1,000 megawatt wind energy project for the desert area east of Shoshone. The Bureau of Land Management is asking the public to provide input on the large commercial-scale Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project being proposed by company Magic Valley Energy, affiliate of LS Power.

attachment-LavaRidge_Project Area

The proposed project would span several Magic Valley Counties between Shoshone and Minidoka, north of Hazelton surrounding the area of Wilson Butte. The proposal calls for building 400 wind turbines as tall as 740 feet, built on 76,000 acres of 1/2 mile wide corridors. The BLM has proposed temporarily setting aside 73,000 acres of land from any land sale or new mining claims for two years for this project. The BLM wants to know of any issues, concerns, possible impacts, alternatives, or mitigation the public may see as a result of the project. Two virtual meetings will be held in early September to present the proposed project and how the Environmental Impact Statement process works.

According to the BLM, the Biden-Harris administration wants to increase renewable energy production on public lands to reach a goal of developing 25 gigawatts of onshore renewable energy by 2025.

To comment go to the Federal Register website.

Here are the dates for the upcoming virtual meeting:
Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. MDT
Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. MDT

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