County officials from Audrain and Callaway Counties held a public meeting at the courthouse in Mexico earlier this month to let some local farmers and property owners vent their frustrations over the Tiger Connector and other solar and wind projects trying to come into the county.

The meeting took place on Monday, Dec. 11, with all three commissioners from Audrain County in attendance. Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann and Associate Commissioner Roger Fischer were also in attendance.

Some property owners affected by the Tiger Connector spoke and asked why the project was even needed and why Missourians have to give up land for a project to benefit others. The Tiger Connector Project has taken some property in Audrain County and surrounding counties to construct a 300-watt power transmission line. Wendy Beard is one of the property owners affected by the transmission line.

“What are we going to do when they cut back our electricity to heat the big cities?” Beard asked commissioners. “Are we going to be in the dark and cold while people in the city are warm? Why are we willing to give up our reliable cheap energy to sustain other states?”

“We’re on record as being opposed to Tiger Connector and GBE (a wind project in northeast Missouri),” Presiding Commissioner Alan Winders responded. “We did what we could to oppose it and that’s where we’re at.”

Local officials have realized they can’t stop some of these projects from happening but can limit and push back to some degree through the legislative process. Audrain Commissioner Leslie Meyer and Jungermann are on legislative committees that are currently talking through these issues.

“State law change is what we’re lobbying for,” Meyer said. “We are advocating through the legislative process to make those changes. As a commission, a lot of these projects are beyond our control.”

Some of the things they’re pushing for include limiting the percentage of farmland that can be used for green projects, setting up taxing structures, and ensuring most if not all materials used are American-made. Jungermann said the American-made issue is big beyond obvious reasons. It’s also a matter of principle.

“The American made things we’re pushing for that,” Jungermann said. “We’re pushing all of it. The American-made thing just makes sense because as commissioners we have to follow some of those rules just to build a bridge.”

One property owner asked the commissioners if a moratorium of some sort could be put in place. Winders said that’s a legal question.

“I don’t believe we can just say, ‘Ah we’re just going to stop them.’ We have to stop them for some reason for some specific time.”

Meyer said the best way to battle a wind or solar farm from coming to a community is to band together and talk with neighbors. Meyer said she knows from recent experience.

“I think right now your best weapon as a citizen is to talk to your neighbors,” Meyer said. “We’ve got one trying to go on the east side and our whole neighborhood had a network of talking. I really think it’s just talking with each other.”

Winders said the other important factor is letting your elected leaders know when someone comes to your neighborhood. At that point, the county can get involved to make sure property owners and taxpayers are both protected. However, he also questioned how much power those agreements have.

“We need to be at that table,” Winders said. “Once the leases are done, we’re not involved. We don’t have any footing. At this point we haven’t talked to anybody unwilling to provide those, but how good are they?”

Audrain County Western District Commissioner Tracy Graham said the problem starts with lawmakers.

“Some place to start would be making sure your elected representative understands that we don’t need all this subsidy stuff to be going into the private sector,” Graham said. “I’m going to guess just about all of these projects are private companies doing it.”

Winders said there is no Tiger Connector, wind farms, or solar projects without federal tax dollars. 

“It really irks me that this winds up at our feet,” Winders said. “‘What can you guys do to stop it?’ Not only did we not start it but the federal government is slightly bigger than Audrain County.”

Consolidated Electric Cooperative CEO Lynn Thompson was at the meeting and confirmed his organization is required to let the Tiger Connector hook to their system to transmit power. Thompson said the cooperative wasn’t in favor of the project and is simply complying with the law.

“We’re not really happy about that but we have to let them do it,” Thompson told property owners. “The only way we can tell them no is if they jeopardize our reliability.”

A representative from Cordelio Renewable Energy, Mark Williams, was also at the meeting and invited anyone to tour the project with him and said his company has no plans to sell their wind farm to Ameren or any other publically regulated utility. Thompson also said his company has no plans to purchase energy.