South Dakota Prairie Winds Project

PrairieWinds, SD1, Incorporated, a subsidiary of Basin Electric, proposes to construct, own, operate, and maintain the South Dakota PrairieWinds Project, a 150-MW wind-powered generation facility, including 101 wind-turbine generators, electrical collector lines, collector substation(s), transmission line, communications system, and service access roads to access wind- turbine sites.

There are two possible locations for the proposed Project.  One site is located on about 37,000 acres about 15 miles north of White Lake, South Dakota, within Brule, Aurora, and Jerauld counties, South Dakota.  For this alternative, the requested interconnection is with Western’s electric transmission system at Wessington Springs Substation, located in Jerauld County, South Dakota.  The other site is located on about 83,000 acres about 8 miles south of Winner, South Dakota, entirely within Tripp County, South Dakota.  If this alternative is selected, the interconnection request will be with Western’s electric transmission system at Winner Substation, located in Tripp County.

Western and the USDA Rural Utilities Service will jointly prepare an environmental impact statement for the project. Your comments will help us define the issues to be addressed in the environmental impact statement.

Scoping report

• Scoping report (365 kb pdf)
• Appendix A - EIS Determination (54 kb pdf)
• Appendix B - Proposed Project Alternatives Site Maps (845 kb pdf)
• Appendix C - Notice of Intent (96 kb pdf)
• Appendix D - Local Newspaper Notices (2.4 MB pdf)
• Appendix E - Post Card Scoping Advertisement (169 kb pdf)
• Appendix F - Native American Tribe Letter and Recipient List (87 kb pdf)
• Appendix G (complete) - Interagency / Scoping Meeting Materials and Scoping Meeting Sign-in Sheets (9.1 MB pdf)
  • Appendix G - Pages 1-10 (1.7 MB pdf)
  • Appendix G - Pages 11-18 (1.3 MB pdf)
  • Appendix G - Pages 19-26 (3.7 MB pdf)
  • Appendix G - Pages 27-44 (2.2 MB pdf)
• Appendix H - Interagency Meeting Invitation Letter / Interagency Meeting and Request to be a Cooperating Agency Invitation Letter and Recipient List (118 kb pdf)
• Appendix I (complete) - Comment Forms and Letters Received (9.2 MB pdf)
  • Appendix I - Pages 1-49 (2.8 MB pdf)
  • Appendix I - Pages 50-104 (3.4 MB pdf)
  • Appendix I - Pages 105-156 (3.0 MB pdf)

Project updates

Project area map (2.5 MB pdf)
Scoping meeting advertisement (260 kb pdf)
Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (55 kb pdf)
EIS determination (18 kb pdf)

Scoping meeting materials

Basin Electric's project objectives (80 kb pdf)
Comment form (45 kb pdf)
DOE, NEPA and You brochure (593 kb pdf)
Environmental impact statement process and schedule (1.3 MB pdf)
Fact sheet (232 kb pdf)
Project overview PowerPoint presentation (2.4 MB pdf)
Rural Utilities Service role and need for agency action (79 kb pdf)
Scoping process overview (65 kb pdf)
South Dakota wind resource map (1.4 MB pdf)
Turbine and transmission siting (73 kb pdf)
Western role and need for agency action (79 kb pdf)

Contact information

Ms. Liana Reilly, Document Manager
Western Area Power Administration
Corporate Services Office
A7400 P.O. Box 281213
Lakewood, Colorado 80228-8213
Phone: 1-800-336-7288
Fax: 720-962-7263
E-mail: sdprairiewindseis@wapa.gov

Mr. Dennis Rankin, Project Manager
Engineering and Environmental Staff
Rural Utilities Service, Utilities Program
1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 1571
Washington, DC 20250–1571
Phone: 202-720–1953
E-mail: dennis.rankin@wdc.usda.gov