Abstract
The Burleigh County Wind Energy Center is a wind generation project proposed by FPL Energy Burleigh County Wind, LLC (Burleigh County Wind). The proposed project would produce up to 50 megawatts (MW) of electricity, averaged annually. The proposed project is located in Burleigh County, North Dakota, approximately 3 miles south and 2 miles east of the town of Wilton, North Dakota (Figures 1-1 and 1-2).
Central Power Electric Cooperative (Central Power), a member of the Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin), would construct a new 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line, approximately 4.4 miles long, to connect the proposed Wind Energy Center to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Western Area Power Administration (Western) transmission line, called the Garrison-Bismarck 230-kV Transmission Line. The interconnection with Western's transmission line would require modifications to the existing Western facility, including construction of a temporary interconnection called a "tap" and a permanent switching station. The project is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2005. Electricity produced from the project is expected to meet the energy demands of approximately 30,000 North Dakota households.
The project is a Federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Section 102(2) (1969), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), and other applicable regulations. Western prepared this environmental assessment (EA) under these regulations to describe the analysis of environmental effects of the proposed project proposed action) and alternatives, including the no-action alternative.