1 day Ago By Julie Buntjer
WORTHINGTON — Marshall-based Bedrock Clean Energy hosted a two-day open house in Worthington last week to talk with landowners about its proposed 300-megawatt wind farm in southern Nobles County. Jonathan Koehn, co-founder and CEO of Bedrock, said this is the company’s first wind farm, although he and business partners have previous experience working for other companies within the industry. ADVERTISEMENT The Little Rock Wind Farm is proposed to include between 60 and 80 wind turbines on the southernmost end of the Buffalo Ridge, a geographic feature proven to have strong and consistent winds, shared Koehn.
A majority of the turbines are planned within the four townships of Little Rock, Ransom, Dewald and Olney, although the area they’ve identified for development spans from Nobles County 35 south to the Iowa state line, and from just west of Worthington to just east of Ellsworth. “Regional transmission buildout is opening up more capacity on the electrical grid to serve quickly rising demand,” Koehn said, adding that ag land use, receptive landowners and a county open to additional wind development were all factors that brought Bedrock Clean Energy to Nobles County. Already, the company has approximately 160 landowners and 34,000 acres signed up to participate in the project.
While that may sound like a lot of land for the estimated 60 to 80 wind turbines, Koehne said the size of each turbine (4.5 megawatts) requires they be spaced farther apart. The land between each turbine needs to be contracted to ensure the project is connected.
Bedrock’s timeline is to secure land for the project by the end of this year, and continue to conduct studies on the wind farm’s development through mid-2026. Once the studies are completed, Koehn said they intend to apply for a large wind energy conversion system site permit from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in mid-2026. They estimate it will take a year for the PUC to make its decision.
Thus far, Koehn said the project has been positively received among landowners, with many eager to participate in the project and add a “predictable revenue stream to their annual budgets.” “We’re continuing to work with additional landowners to answer questions and address concerns to the best of our ability, in the hope of getting an even higher percentage of residents and landowners involved in the project,” he added. Koehn said if the project is approved, participating landowners will receive annual payments leading up to and during construction.
The project will also result in the creation of hundreds of construction jobs and 10 or more full-time operations jobs. ADVERTISEMENT During the construction process, tentatively set for late 2027 through late 2028, local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, equipment suppliers and hardware stores would likely see increased business, he added. “Once the project is operational, the landowner payments are expected to exceed $2 million per year, increasing over time,” Koehn said.
“Minnesota’s production tax delivered $2.1 million in revenue to Nobles County in 2024 and the Little Rock Wind Project is expected to add more than $1 million per year to that total, with 80% of that going to Nobles County and the other 20% being split among the townships where the project is sited.” Koehn said it has not yet been determined which wind turbine manufacturer and model will be used in the development of the Little Rock Wind Farm, if the project receives PUC approval.
“Each of the manufacturers likely to be used have global supply chains but directly manufacture or source a significant portion of the turbine components from the U.S.,” he said.
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