EARL WATT

   • Leader & Times

Across the state and the country, projects are coming available in wind, solar and data center development. But which are right for Seward County? At the recent Seward County Commission Candidates Forum, those seeking to serve on the Seward County Commission were asked if they would support wind, solar and data center development in Kansas.

Dist. 2 Commissioner Clay Louderback said he was not opposed to development under the right conditions.

“I am open to the discussion,” Louderback said. “I want to learn all about it if they meet the regulations of the county. We need revenue but not at the expense of people in the county. If it is good economic development I’m all for it.”

Dist. 2 challenger Kay Burtzloff said she supported renewable energy initiatives but did not support data centers.

“I am open to green energy,” Burtzloff said. “I wish I could have some of that on my property. I am not in favor of data centers. They are a tremendous user of water. We are concerned about our aquifer. If we can vet them, I am open to wind and solar.”

Dist. 3 Commissioner Jairo Vazquez said he was open to energy growth if it did not affect water.

“I am open, but a few things need to happen,” Vazquez said. “People need to be safe and follow regulations. If not, you adjust them. We have been able to do that with negotiations. Our county needs revenue. We need more things coming in to our community. Data centers, when you see what they have, they have some that don’t use water but they are expensive and probably not coming here. If it affects our water, I will say no to that.”

Dist. 3 challenger Lizette Avalos-Morales wanted to research any project first before making a commitment.

“Before making any decision, I would do research and see how will it affect the county, how much will it cost and what revenues will it create,” she said. “I am not in favor of data centers based on research I have done. We are at risk of losing water. We are in a drought. That is a big concern of mine. I am looking forward to learning more about other projects.”

Dist. 4 candidate Fred Bloom explained that while he personally did not support wind towers, he would have to look at what is best for the county as a whole.

“I am opposed to wind towers,” Bloom said. “But as a county commissioner I have to be open and a team player and listen to constituents. Will it bring revenue to our county? And on our terms, not the big business terms. We need regulations that we control. I would be open but personally, people might see I have a lease on a wind tower because I have a partner, we’ve been partners for 40 year. She was adamant we have a lease on this ground. I spent several sleepless nights trying to talk her out of it. She was going to sue us if we didn’t. But it’s not for me.”

Dist. 4 challenger Jose Lara said consideration has to be given to every project.

“We have to be open to every form,” Lara said. “We grew on oil. Only thing left now is solar and wind, but it has to be done on our terms and we have to make sure whoever is working on it for us is educated. I am not opposed to an advisory vote. On the data centers, I am against the hyper-scalers, those mega-sites, we are not designed for those. But smaller ones perhaps. Data is our world now. We only have 20 megawatts available to us. That’s what National Beef uses. We can’t get a larger transmission line until we meet that use. We can’t go above 8 megawatts because substations can’t go above that. We couldn’t even bring another National Beef. Only companies we can bring in would be small processing centers, and that would allows us to max out.”

Bloom followed up by stating he does not have win on any land he personally owns.

“All the land I own personally we do not have wind leases,” Bloom said. “Just partners.”

Vazquez added the current project being discussed on wind would be coming with the best conditions the commission can negotiate.

“We’ve been taking criticism for executive sessions and the amount we have had,” Vazquez said. “We have been pushing hard with the project coming in. We are trying to get the best deal for the community.”