Wind Leasing in Nemaha County, Kansas

Nemaha County isn't a blank slate for wind -- it already hosts two separate utility-scale wind farms. But the second of those projects, Soldier Creek Wind Energy Center, was approved only after a bitter 2019 fight that produced a county moratorium on new commercial renewable-energy development, and that moratorium has been renewed repeatedly since, most recently backed by the county's own 2023 Comprehensive Plan. For a landowner hoping to sign a new wind or solar lease today, the practical answer is that the door is currently closed, not open.

This page covers what's specific to Nemaha County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Two wind farms already built, not one

Public reporting and industry project databases identify two distinct, separately-developed utility-scale wind farms operating in Nemaha County. The first, developed by Juwi and generally called the Nemaha County Wind Project, is rated at 135 megawatts across 86 turbines. The second and considerably larger project, Soldier Creek Wind Energy Center, was developed by NextEra Energy Resources with roughly 300 megawatts of capacity across more than 130 possible turbine sites, and went live in November 2020 after the county approved a set of wind-farm agreements in March 2020. Together, that's well over 400 megawatts of installed wind capacity already sited across the county -- a much larger existing buildout than a buyer would guess from either project's name alone, since neither is called simply the 'Nemaha wind farm.'

Soldier Creek's path to approval was not smooth. Conditional use permits for the project were first approved in early 2019, and a wave of community opposition followed -- Nemaha County residents attended county commission meetings on a near-weekly basis pressing for more information and expressing concern about the project. The county commission responded by passing a six-month moratorium on new wind and solar projects effective May 13, 2019, which it then extended another six months (to May 13, 2020) in November 2019, even as Soldier Creek itself moved forward under agreements the county negotiated separately and finalized in March 2020.

A standing moratorium: the county has not reopened the door to new projects

What matters most for anyone weighing a new wind or solar lease today is what happened after Soldier Creek was approved: the county did not treat that project as an opening for more. Nemaha County adopted a new Comprehensive Plan in 2023 that documents the county's opposition to further wind energy development and effectively signals to developers that additional utility-scale projects are not welcome -- and separately, the county commission passed a resolution in October 2023 extending its project moratorium for another full year. That combination (a comprehensive plan built around limiting further build-out, plus a periodically-renewed moratorium) is a materially stronger and more specific finding than a generic 'this county may be resistant to new wind' caution -- it's a documented, repeated policy choice with real dates behind it.

For a landowner who already has an operating turbine or transmission easement from either existing project, that lease and its associated payment terms remain a private contractual matter between the landowner and the project's owner (Juwi/its successor for the Nemaha County Wind Project, NextEra for Soldier Creek) -- the county moratorium doesn't unwind an existing signed lease. But for anyone buying land hoping to sign a fresh wind or solar lease with a new developer, or counting on future turbine-lease income as part of a purchase's return, the realistic starting assumption should be that Nemaha County is not currently approving new commercial renewable-energy siting, and has taken active, repeated steps to keep it that way since 2019. Confirm the moratorium's current status and expiration date directly with the Nemaha County Clerk or Planning Commission before assuming any timeline for it to lift, and ask specifically whether the 2023 Comprehensive Plan's language on wind energy has been revisited since.

Wind Energy Leasing in Nemaha County, Kansas

Two wind farms already built, not one

A standing moratorium: the county has not reopened the door to new projects

Ready to talk to someone who knows land?