Palmer’s Creek Wind

Palmer’s Creek Wind Farm

Palmer’s Creek Wind Farm, LLC proposes to construct the Palmer’s Creek Wind Farm (Project) in Chippewa County, Minnesota.  The Project would include 18 wind turbines, spread across roughly 6,150 acres of privately owned land.  The Project would also include associated access roads, a new collector substation, an operations and maintenance (O&M) facility, and associated transmission interconnection facilities.  The Project would interconnect to WAPA’s existing Granite Falls Substation.

WAPA’s Involvement

If there is available transmission capacity on the federal transmission system, WAPA provides open access to transmission services so that energy producers can transmit power to their customers.  Any entity requesting transmission services must submit an application for interconnection.  For more information a​bout the interconnection process, visit WAPA’s website.  The federal interconnection process is separate​ from any State, County, or local permitting and approvals that may be required.

​The proposed interconnection of the Project to WAPA’s transmission system is a Federal action under NEPA.  As a result, an Environmental Assessment (EA) will be prepared to evaluate the environmental effects of the Project.  The EA will tier from the analysis conducted in the Upper Great Plains (UGP) Wind Energy Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).  The PEIS can be viewed here​.  Together, the EA and the PEIS will comprise​ the NEPA documentation for this proposed Federal action.  If WAPA finds there are no significant environmental impacts, the interconnection request will be granted and WAPA will prepare a Finding of No Significant Impact.  If significant impacts are identified, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process would be initiated.  An EIS provides a more thorough evaluation of impacts and alternatives, as well as a more formal public involvement process.

Public Involvement

• The public comment period on the draft EA closed on November 15, 2017.  The document can still be viewed at the link below.

• The final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) are available for public review at the link below.

Project Links

• ​October 2017:  Draft Environmental Assessment​ for Public Review and Comment (PDF)

• June 2018:  Final Environmental Assessment for Public Review (PDF)​ and Appendices (PDF)
• Finding of No Significant Impact (PDF)​

Contact Information

Western Area Power Administration
UGP NEPA Coordinator
2900 4th Avenue North
Billings, MT 59101-1266
(406) 255-2811​
nepa@wapa.gov