Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 6 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 5 related plants in PECWeb
Released November 25, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by Eric Funderburk for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land Texas)
The bill to be discussed is Senate Bill 437, known as the Arkansas Wind Development Act, which establishes "setback requirements" for wind turbines that will significantly affect the siting of windfarms. These setbacks include:
The Nimbus Windfarm in Carroll County is in safe territory. In development since 2016, construction on the facility kicked off in earnest late last year. The 180-megawatt (MW) windfarm is expected to be completed next spring. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.
Carroll County passed a five-year moratorium against future windfarm development in May this year.
Other planned windfarms in Arkansas may not fare so well under the new legislation. One of these projects is RES Americas' (Denver, Colorado) planned facility in Washington County, near the town of Lincoln. RES' website describes its Trillium wind project as being "in the early stages of planning" and still seeking community input.
That input is turning increasingly negative from several local residents, but the implementation of the state's new power laws may provide an easy resolution for concerned citizens as the Trillium project does not appear to have completed any significant official studies or land contracts. Industrial Info's report on the project, only recently added to the GMI Database, anticipates the project beginning construction in late 2028 and wrapping up a little more than a year later. However, the pending legislation could put all plans for the project on ice, leaving RES to focus on its developments in other states, such as neighboring Texas, where Industrial Info is tracking six active projects from the company, primarily for solar power and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Subscribers can click here to learn more about the Trillium project.
Another wind project, which would be the state's largest, has received commitments for more than 23,000 acres of approximately 30,000 total acres of land. The Long Grain windfarm by Triple Oak Power LLC (Portland, Oregon) is seemingly more advanced than the RES Americas project, but land "commitments" don't necessarily equate to the official land leases required by the Arkansas Wind Development Act. In addition, no significant permissions to proceed have been received from the state's official planning bodies, and the criteria met by the April 9, 2025, cutoff date may not be enough to exempt the project from being rendered unsuitable for further development. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the Google and xAI projects.
Such considerations may go some way toward a less rigorous implementation of the state's Wind Development Act, perhaps easing more stringent enforcement and requirements across the state as a whole, rather than accounting for regional differences and needs, and reconsidering the April 9 project cutoff date. Such actions would likely require more state legislation.
About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Summary
Arkansas lawmakers are gearing up for hearings in regard to the implementation of legislation passed in April that makes siting and constructing windfarms in the state significantly more difficult.New Arkansas Wind Requirements
Arkansas' wind power industry is in its nascent stages, with the state's first commercial windfarm beginning commercial operations only last week; but the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC) is preparing to hold a hearing on the implementation of laws passed by state legislators in April that make developing windfarms in the state extremely difficult, if not outright impossible.The bill to be discussed is Senate Bill 437, known as the Arkansas Wind Development Act, which establishes "setback requirements" for wind turbines that will significantly affect the siting of windfarms. These setbacks include:
- Locating turbines from nonparticipating landowners' properties the greater of 3.5 times a turbine's height from the ground to the top blade tip or 2,500 feet.
- Siting turbines at least one mile from public places, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, parks and airports as well as one mile outside the limits of a city or town.
Implementation and Interpretation
The December 11 hearing will deal in large plant on how stringently the new requirements are implemented. One of the more vocal wind advocacy groups, the Southern Renewable Energy Association, is vying for broader means that a project can seek exemption, clear requirements about which state and federal studies qualify a project for exemption and far along these need to be, as well as arguing the April 9, 2025, cutoff date is unconstitutional as it preceded both the passage of the law and the date it took effect.Existing Projects
With wind power only beginning to be developed in the state, wind projects in Arkansas are relatively sparse. At least four Arkansas counties in the northwest of the state have issued moratoriums against future windfarm development. Of the handful of active wind projects being tracked in the state by Industrial Info, one is in safe territory, having already begun construction, but two others may not have progressed far enough to be exempted from the legislation cutoff date.The Nimbus Windfarm in Carroll County is in safe territory. In development since 2016, construction on the facility kicked off in earnest late last year. The 180-megawatt (MW) windfarm is expected to be completed next spring. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.
Carroll County passed a five-year moratorium against future windfarm development in May this year.
Other planned windfarms in Arkansas may not fare so well under the new legislation. One of these projects is RES Americas' (Denver, Colorado) planned facility in Washington County, near the town of Lincoln. RES' website describes its Trillium wind project as being "in the early stages of planning" and still seeking community input.
That input is turning increasingly negative from several local residents, but the implementation of the state's new power laws may provide an easy resolution for concerned citizens as the Trillium project does not appear to have completed any significant official studies or land contracts. Industrial Info's report on the project, only recently added to the GMI Database, anticipates the project beginning construction in late 2028 and wrapping up a little more than a year later. However, the pending legislation could put all plans for the project on ice, leaving RES to focus on its developments in other states, such as neighboring Texas, where Industrial Info is tracking six active projects from the company, primarily for solar power and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Subscribers can click here to learn more about the Trillium project.
Another wind project, which would be the state's largest, has received commitments for more than 23,000 acres of approximately 30,000 total acres of land. The Long Grain windfarm by Triple Oak Power LLC (Portland, Oregon) is seemingly more advanced than the RES Americas project, but land "commitments" don't necessarily equate to the official land leases required by the Arkansas Wind Development Act. In addition, no significant permissions to proceed have been received from the state's official planning bodies, and the criteria met by the April 9, 2025, cutoff date may not be enough to exempt the project from being rendered unsuitable for further development. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
Geographic Differences
The Long Grain project does have a few advantages over the state's other potentially troubled wind projects. Residents of its location in eastern Arkansas, about 30 minutes from Memphis, Tennessee, seem more receptive to wind power, whereas the other projects are situated in Arkansas' northwest, home to significant scenic beauty and a portion of the Ozark Mountains. Long Grain's Crittenden County location is also home to another significant development that requires substantial power. Google Incorporated (Mountain View, California) is building a substantial data center complex in the county's largest city, West Memphis, that will need an estimated 900 MW of power when fully completed. Although arrangements have been made with Entergy Corporation (New Orleans, Louisiana) to provide power from a 600-MW solar complex with 350 MW of BESS capacity (see project report), the data center will use virtually all of this power itself, with none going to area residents or other businesses. Coupled with xAI's (Palo Alto, California) "Colossus" data center complex under construction just across the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, the region's power needs are set to rise significantly.Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the Google and xAI projects.
Such considerations may go some way toward a less rigorous implementation of the state's Wind Development Act, perhaps easing more stringent enforcement and requirements across the state as a whole, rather than accounting for regional differences and needs, and reconsidering the April 9 project cutoff date. Such actions would likely require more state legislation.
About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
