Save Our Sunsets, a group originating in Payne County, said the meeting’s purpose was to offer updates regarding potential transmission lines, wind, solar, data centers and battery storage in Payne County.
The group has previously opposed transmission lines, solar and wind projects and the newest target is data centers. A press release pointed to “additional five or more proposed data centers, HVDC (high-voltage direct current) transmission lines, a proposed 600-acre solar power plant and issues related to a wind turbine blade recycling plant near Coyle.”
“We’re (presenting) the known and projected locations on a Payne County map and exchanging ideas to stop this destruction and try to get all the people in the county working together — and also in different areas — to make an impact,” Rebecca Parrack told the News Press, who with her husband, David, started the Save Our Sunsets advocacy group.
Payne County’s three commissioners — Zach Cavett (District 1), Seth Condley (District 2) and Rhonda Markum (District 3) — were in attendance, along with Sen. Randy Greener, R-Cushing, Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle and Rep. Jim Shaw, R-Chandler.
The Parracks originally started the advocacy group to fight the federal government’s plan of creating a new federal transmission corridor that was projected to run through much of northern Oklahoma.
Rebecca said she and her husband were approached for an easement on their generational family farmland and were able to negotiate an agreement, but became concerned with where they saw the NIETC corridor would be located.
“It’s not like old pipelines that just runs across the corner of your property — the towers were going to be 20 stories tall,” Rebecca said. “Can you imagine a 20-story-tall building out by your favorite pond, your only pond to fish in? So, that’s how this got started.”
Their Facebook group has grown to 2,000 members.
The core members have been tracking the location of projects, and Thursday evening encouraged those in attendance to reach out to their city, county and legislative representatives.
Rebecca said people have contacted the group about wind turbine blades being left on their property or ponds or wildlife being affected by data centers constructed near their neighborhoods.
Creek County landowner Darren Blanchard, who gave a presentation during the meeting, told the News Press his property is subject to eminent domain for a high-voltage direct current transmission line. He called the meeting a town hall to bring awareness to five proposed data centers.
“We don’t know what those are, where they’re at,” Blanchard said. “They could be crypto mining facilities, they could be hyper scale data centers, like you see is currently under construction in Stillwater.”
He said residents should look at all of the “externalities” related to the data centers.
“We know that data centers need tremendous amounts of power (and) water, (and) as they continue to expand, they’re going to need more power, more water. And when you’re talking about more power, that’s transmission lines,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard said he’s planning to start a certified, naturally grown product farm in Creek County to help get food to local communities, including a farm-to-school nutrition program, the Muscogee Creek Nation Food Bank and a “mom-and-pop” grocery store in Beggs, Oklahoma.
“I don’t have much, but I have a passion, hope and a dream,” Blanchard said. “When I see a transmission line that’s going to potentially take a vast portion of our property, I start to get a little bit upset, and I think others should be as well.”
Blanchard also wondered about the water supply needed for data centers.
The News Press previously reported Stillwater’s economic development agreement with Kaw Lake gives the city 50 million gallons per day, and the agreement with the data center includes a fresh water usage cap of 2.7 million gallons per day.
Still, Blanchard is concerned that data centers would require more water than originally thought.
“I think we have to ask ourselves as people, ‘Is that a responsible use of a finite resource, particularly in Oklahoma that’s been known for experiencing drought?’” Blanchard said.
He also had concerns about decommissioned turbine parts contaminating soil and if the soil could ever be reclaimed.
“That’s an unknown, because wind turbines, particularly in Oklahoma, just started coming in in the mid- to early 2000s, and they have a lifespan of about 20 years,” Blanchard said. “So, you’re getting ready to see a lot of these be decommissioned. And it’s not just going to be an area in Cushing or an area in Coyle, they’re going to be storing hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of decommissioned turbine parts.”
Blanchard said there may be a potential process that could recycle the blades properly, adding that in Woodward, the turbine recycling company Woodward Advanced Solutions keeps the process completely indoors, repurposing the blades for products such as reinforcement for concrete.
But he didn’t know how much capital it could take to start that kind of business and how much money could be made.
“Unfortunately, because Oklahoma has a lot of outdated laws or laws that need updating or codes that need updating, you’re going to have a lot of these developers take advantage of us, and it’s going to be your everyday citizens, your everyday Oklahoma that’s going to be suffering the consequences,” Blanchard said.
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