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S erving the R egion S ince 1907

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Rhame council rescinds appointment of judge

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016

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Night Hawk boys secure 3rd place region rank

BOWMAN

Cou cyc ld a con lon be tro e of bre ver win sy g?

A PIONEER EXCLUSIVE

Massive wind farm proposed for Bowman County

By BRYCE MARTIN

Pioneer Editor

Police currently are seeking information related to tires on five vehicles being punctured last week in Bowman. Bowman Sales and Service discovered that three tires had been punctured on a white F-350 parked on the south side of the Pioneer’s building on Main Street the morning of Jan. 29. The truck had been sold to a customer and was awaiting pickup. According to Bowman Police Chief Chuck Headley, Bowman Sales filed a police report regarding the incident. A Bowman Sales employee, Sara Steiner, also filed a report with police after she discovered the same day that a tire on her orange Ford Edge was punctured. Steiner’s vehicle was parked in front of the Bowman Theater. A third vehicle in the vicinity also had its tires slashed, but that person chose only to file an informational report.

n Apex Clean Energy holds invitationonly meeting for landowners; seeks to put about 300 turbines over 30,000 acres Inside

By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor

n What are the effects of wind farms on BOWMAN — About 50 landowners livestock, property? Page 3 from Bowman County on Jan. 29 heard a Virginia energy company’s plan to n What’s next? Page 3 erect at least 100 wind turbines in a large area spanning from south of Rhame to Highway 85. But not all landowners in attendance were convinced that the project should proceed. The company, Apex Clean Energy headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., wants to establish a wind energy farm across about 25,000 to 30,000 acres, and would annually produce 200 to 300 megawatts of energy. Bowman County’s current wind farm — owned and operated by MDU Resources, and located several miles west of Rhame along Highway 12 — by comparison has 13 turbines. Harold Kruger and Scott Koziar, representatives of Apex, held an invitation-only meeting at Bowman Lodge with landowners that are situated within the proposed project’s footprint. The meeting’s objective was to spark interest in the project; it was largely informational, with time allotted for questions from the landowners. A YouTube video was shown to the crowd that featured landowners from outside Oklahoma City, Okla., praising a $400 million wind farm that Apex constructed in their area, called Canadian Hills Wind. That farm was subsequently sold to Atlantic Power. “Letting (the wind) go to waste is tantamount to pouring oil on the ground,” said one of the residents providing testimonial in the video. Still, a few residents in the audience questioned the company’s methods. Karen Paulson of Rhame, whose sons own land in the proposed area, first asked why the meeting wasn't made public as she echoed Kruger and Koziar’s remarks that the farm would inevitably affect the entire county. Bowman County Emergency Manager Dean Pearson, who was present at the meeting, echoed Paulson’s concern that the meeting wasn’t public, adding that it was “strange.” Koziar, director of project development for Apex, answered that there would eventually be a more publicized meeting in the future. Paulson indicated her nervousness that having such a massive wind farm in the county would force people’s utility bills to increase dramatically, but Kruger assured the crowd that would not be the case. “It’s the people that are stuck with the bill,” Paulson said. Koziar disagreed, as he explained that any costs would be passed on to the facility’s rate owners, not to public utility users. Apex would have two markets to sell the generated energy into: A newly constructed transmission line in the county by Basin Electric would allow the energy to be transported to Basin’s customers elsewhere. Alternatively, MDU has a transmission line nearby that would provide energy to MDU customers.

TIRES Page 2

SCRANTON

Equity names new manager By BRYCE MARTIN Pioneer Editor

The Scranton Equity Board of Directors announced last week that Mike Wedwick accepted the role of Scranton Equity General Manager, previously filled by Doug Archer of Bowman. Archer left the company last year. While the equity searched for a permanent manager, an interim manager filled the role. Wedwick, a resident of Scranton, has worked at Scranton Equity for 28 years as Elevator Department Manager. He has been a major participant in

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5 vehicles found with slashed tires

Not good for oil: Gas price at 12-year low

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