KNOX COUNTY, Neb. (KCAU) — A wind energy company and many Knox County landowners have filed a lawsuit against the county and many board members due to a zoning amendment.

The lawsuit was federally filed by North Fork Wind LLC and twelve landowners in Knox County on Friday. The lawsuit is against Knox County, members of its board of supervisors, the planning commission and zoning administrator, and a group of individuals who pushed for a change to the county’s setback rules.

Back in November 2023, Knox County had adopted “commercially reasonable zoning regulations for CWECS,” according to the lawsuit. CWECS is a 600-megawatt commercial wind energy conversion system. The lawsuit states that North Fork Wind attended meetings and provided comments about the wind farm since 2017.

The lawsuit states that a group called “Wind Watchers” that opposed the setback rules that were in place began to push for a change to the rules in May 2024. This led to the Knox County Board of Supervisors voting 5-1 on to change the setback rules from 2,000 feet to 6,600 feet, more than three times the original distance.

In addition to the setbacks, the county is also requiring that North Fork Wind obtain a security bond. The amount will be determined by the board. The county is also requiring them to add Knox County as an additional insured on the company’s policies for the wind farm.

The lawsuit claims that the changes were made “with the express purpose of regulating North Fork Wind and the Wind Farm only.” It stated zoning changes for windfarms were done without properly posting proposed amendments in meeting agendas. It also said that impacted landowners did not receive written notice about the proposed amendments. In meeting minutes and agendas, North Fork Wind and the windfarm were specifically mentioned for the proposed amendments.

Reasons given for the board’s reasons for approving the new setback were because the wind turbines were taller than other turbines in another windfarm, North Fork Wind could pay non-participating landowners, and the board trusted the planning commissions recommendation, the lawsuit states. Additionally, one board member said he was opposed because his children di not want to look at the windfarm.

North Fork Wind had been working on developing their CWECS for more than five years, beginning in 2017, according to the suit. They entered into agreements with many landowners in the area and had invested more than $12 million into the project. To help secure their position in a queue with the Southwest Power Pool, the company had posted more than $16 million in security deposits, more than $7 million of which is non-refundable.

The company estimates that the wind farm would be worth more than $1.3 billion in consideration of how much money it would be bringing to landowners, paying in taxes, and more.

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In addition, the lawsuits states that the state of Nebraska is encouraging the development of wind energy and that the Knox County 2023 Zone Resolution specifically stated that the county was pushing for wind energy as a “clean, renewable energy resource can be utilized in a cost-effective and timely manner.”

The plaintiffs in this case are seeking to have the amendments lifted and making public record that they have been canceled and nullified. They are also seeking to be paid damages and have their court fees covered.

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