Power on the Horizon

Kalbas, other specialists from KU’s faculty, and community representatives gathered on Oct. 24 at KU’s Lawrence campus for the 2024 Kansas Economic Policy Conference – Powering the Future of Kansas. These experts and stakeholders discussed the bolstering opportunities and tough challenges associated with Kansas’ new energy landscape.

KU researchers have also unveiled an elaborate new source of data helpful to government officials and the public — an atlas that maps where wind turbines are in the state and the complexities of wind energy regulations and politics in Kansas, down to the county level.

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For over a century, windmills — more accurately, wind pumps — helped farmers irrigate their fields, enabled Kansas agriculture to become nationally competitive, and symbolized the beauty and importance of Kansas’ rural communities. It seems fitting that the economic future of Kansas may be defined by the evolution of wind power.

The natural and clean energy waiting to be harnessed by wind turbines could propel Kansas to become a mighty energy producer for our nation and generate revenue for all Kansans.

Researchers at the University of Kansas are helping to outline those critical opportunities for the state. Their work frames wind energy information to educate the public, serve the nation’s pursuit of power sources with fewer public health consequences, and illustrates the bolstering economic and environmental advantages of becoming a clean energy state.

For over a century, windmills — more accurately, wind pumps — helped farmers irrigate their fields, enabled Kansas agriculture to become nationally competitive, and symbolized the beauty and importance of Kansas’ rural communities. It seems fitting that the economic future of Kansas may be defined by the evolution of wind power.

“Historically, Kansas has been an oil and gas state,” says Donna K. Ginther, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research. The state produced more than 27 million barrels of oil and 37 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2023.

But still, these energy resources are limited. With the third highest share of wind power in the nation, Ginther says, “Kansas is blessed with renewable energy potential.”

The economic benefits of wind facilities for the state and Kansans are enormous. The High Banks Wind Farm in Washington and Republic counties has 650 MW of generating capacity. About 11,000 people live in the two counties in north-central Kansas, and the facility is the largest in the state.

Using present calculations, the total benefit to the state over 30 years is $330 million — $185 million in employment and $145 million in property income. Around 60% of that revenue returns to those home counties, equaling over $200 million.

“Kansas’ high sustained wind speeds … have allowed it to aggressively grow its renewable energy infrastructure,” Kalbas says.

What might come as a surprise is that Kansas' powerful new wind generating industry also has the potential for unlocking a game-changing clean energy source for the future — hydrogen.

“We can take excess and new electrical generation from wind, solar, and nuclear energy sources and run that current through water to generate hydrogen molecules,” Kalbas says. “The hydrogen molecules become a commodity that can be used, stored, or transported.”

Kalbas’ research shows that the same amount of water used to drive 20 irrigation pivots could be used to generate large quantities of hydrogen. That small amount of water — out of about 20,000 irrigation pivots in the western part of the state — could drive a whole new economy in Kansas.

Using that water and part of the 5,600 MW of wind power additions planned to come online by 2030, Kansas could be well on its way to solidifying its place as a national leader in cleaner energy production.

Researchers and academics at the University of Kansas are gathering the information needed to help strengthen that leadership role.

Wind energy is a polarizing topic. Jayhawks are endeavoring to educate the public, leaders in Kansas, and wind energy developers. KU researchers are collecting and synthesizing scientific data and local government regulations across the state.

“Kansas’ 105 counties can each adopt different regulations,” says Ward Lyles, director for the Center for Compassionate and Sustainable Communities and associate professor at KU’s School of Public Affairs & Administration. “It’s a very complicated landscape for county commissions … for citizens, journalists, and everybody who just wants to understand what’s happening.”

Clarity from KU researchers — including Uma Outka, William R. Scott Professor of Law, and Ian Njuguna, graduate research assistant — is now available through the Kansas Energy Transition Atlas (KETA).

For Kansans, the KETA provides a wealth of data based on the latest information to help local leaders decide if and how to grow more available, healthier power supplies. For wind energy developers, the KETA supplies detailed insights necessary for crafting development proposals that align with local regulations and contribute to bolstering the state’s energy goals.

Lyles cites research stating that 80% of wind developers identify local regulations, along with grid connectivity, as a major complicating factor in delaying wind coming online.

The KETA includes six legal policy regulations by county — including moratoriums and wind energy ordinances — and lists the locations of wind turbines across the state. The KETA also has a feature to select layers to assist all audiences to find relevant information: approved and denied turbine proposals, average Kansas wind speeds, key wildlife areas, and more.

Lyles says resources from a Sloan Foundation grant will help expand the KETA to other states and educate and inform more than just Kansans. “Certainly, across the Great Plains where wind is most promising.”

The map could eventually expand across the country, becoming a model of ingenuity to enhance the U.S. economy.

Access the Kansas Energy Transition Atlas

According to Jack Thimesch, a Kingman County commissioner, his county has three wind farms and another is being built. Thimesch was a panelist for the Energy and Local Communities presentation at the Kansas Economic Policy Conference.

Kingman County is in south-central Kansas and has about 7,500 residents. “For us, it’s been the economic development help to maintain the county,” Thimesch says.

“We have used the money to help draw down some taxes … and rebuilt roads and bridges that we probably would have never touched.”

The profits of wind turbines won’t be just felt in the economy, but also in the environmental health of Kansas communities.

“The environmental benefit of one wind facility is much larger than the direct economic benefit,” Ginther says. “As wind energy has increased, coal production has fallen.”

Returning to the data from the High Banks Wind Farm, Ginther explained — citing EPA estimates — a decrease in 1 MWh of coal power generation results in $14.60 health savings throughout the central region. Adjusting for the present value and calculated over 30 years, that equals $172 million in decreased health costs.

“The reality is that our appetite for electricity is enormous,” Kalbas says. “It is growing and evolving … and it’s driven by market demand and resource availability.”

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration from 2023 shows that 61% of the nation’s electrical power is generated from fossil fuels, the majority coming from coal. Along with reducing greenhouse gases, Kalbas says, the U.S. must establish affordable, dispatchable, and reliable sources of power at a grander scale than ever envisioned before.

KU researchers are equipping leaders, community members, industry developers, and others with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about policy and investments for wind energy.

This natural resource that’s so prevalent in Kansas could be the key to the additional power vital to the economic growth and public health for our regional and national communities.