EL PASO COUNTY — An expansive wind farm is looming in El Paso County’s future — a project stretching south of Calhan that could put more than 100 towering wind turbines across the plains east of Colorado Springs.
The project, owned by Next- Era Energy Resources, has become the source of much controversy for residents who face a future with the turbines on their horizon. For long-time ranchers, the wind farm means an overdue boost to an economically depressed region, particularly in Calhan.
But hobby farmers and small property owners fear that the project and its above-ground power lines threaten their Front Range views and property values.
While 165 homeowners around Calhan have agreed to let NextEra turbines and power lines on their land, many of their neighbors contest the project and have fought for months to shut it down. Yet another group opposes a 29-mile power line held up by poles with a maximum height of 112 feet — taller than the average telephone pole — that would stretch north and west of the Meadow Lake Airport.
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