OSAGE COUNTY, Kan. — The proposed Auburn Harvest Wind Project in Osage County is now effectively over.
A public notice published in the Osage County Chronicle reported that Steelhead Americas “made the difficult decision to terminate the Wind Energy Ground Lease(s)” after the Osage County Commission adopted a policy blocking wind and solar development.
When the commission acted in 2022, the Osage County Chronicle described the decision in direct terms, reporting that commissioners “unanimously accepted a recommendation to not allow wind farms or solar energy developments” inside county borders, including the Auburn Harvest proposal.
In its February 2026 public notice, Steelhead Americas said ending the leases was “especially disappointing,” citing expected benefits such as “direct investment to local landowners,” “hundreds of new jobs,” and “increased tax revenue.”
The cancellation highlights how local zoning authority has become one of the defining forces shaping renewable development in Kansas.
A widening county split
A University of Kansas analysis of wind regulations across all 105 counties found that roughly 70% have adopted wind-specific rules. Among those counties, about one-fourth to one-third have adopted “blocking” regulations intended to significantly restrict or prevent development, according to KU researchers.
Public radio station KCUR similarly reported that “new wind installations aren’t allowed in about one-fifth of Kansas counties,” citing local land-use priorities and regulatory decisions.
Osage County fits that pattern. Even when individual landowners support turbine leases, county-level siting rules can halt projects outright. Once adopted, prohibitive zoning ordinances often redirect developer investment to more receptive jurisdictions.
Transmission constraints
Even in counties that permit turbines, developers face mounting grid constraints.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Land-Based Wind Market Report has documented record levels of wind capacity waiting in transmission interconnection queues nationwide. DOE reported that roughly 300 gigawatts of wind capacity were in interconnection queues at the end of 2022, competing with rapidly expanding solar and storage projects.
Interconnection delays and required transmission upgrades can add years and significant cost to proposed projects — often long enough for land options to expire or financial assumptions to change.
Tax credits: extended but politically watched
Federal incentives remain central to wind economics.
The Internal Revenue Service explains that under the Inflation Reduction Act framework, the Clean Electricity Production Credit (Section 45Y) and Clean Electricity Investment Credit (Section 48E) phase out beginning the later of 2032 or when U.S. power-sector greenhouse gas emissions fall to 25% of 2022 levels.
However, energy law firms such as Sidley Austin have cautioned in client analyses that proposed federal legislation could modify or terminate those credits earlier depending on placed-in-service dates and construction-start requirements, reinforcing ongoing political risk surrounding long-term project financing.
Berkeley Lab’s 2024 Wind Technologies Market Report found that U.S. wind additions totaled 6.5 gigawatts in 2023, noting that deployment historically tracks federal production tax credit availability.
EPA tightens particulate standards
In February 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a revision to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), lowering the annual standard from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter. The EPA stated the move was intended to strengthen public health protections against soot pollution linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
Stricter particulate standards can increase compliance pressure on certain fossil-fuel generating units in areas struggling to meet air-quality thresholds. However, much of rural Kansas already meets the federal PM2.5 standard, limiting immediate regulatory impact in the region.
February MATS deregulation reduces pressure on coal plants
At the same time, the EPA announced regulatory changes in February affecting the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which govern mercury and hazardous air pollutant emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
According to EPA summaries of the rule revision, the changes adjust compliance requirements adopted in 2024, easing certain regulatory obligations on affected plants.
Energy analysts note that reduced regulatory burdens can extend the operating life of some coal and oil units by lowering compliance costs. Because wholesale power markets are influenced by the marginal operating costs of existing generation, easing MATS requirements can reduce immediate economic pressure for plant retirements.
For wind developers, that dynamic matters. Wind projects compete in regional wholesale markets where lower fossil operating costs can suppress prices, particularly during off-peak hours when wind output is strongest.
However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has reported in recent years that many coal retirements have been driven primarily by fuel economics, plant age, and maintenance costs — factors that operate independently of individual regulatory changes.
Competing federal signals
Taken together, the EPA’s stricter particulate standard and the MATS regulatory rollback send mixed signals to energy markets.
The PM2.5 revision reinforces long-term public-health goals tied to cleaner generation. The MATS changes reduce compliance pressure on some fossil units.
For developers and lenders, that creates additional modeling uncertainty layered atop tax-credit politics, transmission constraints, and local zoning barriers.
Large and in charge in Osage County
With leases terminated, Auburn Harvest’s development footprint disappears unless Osage County reverses course.
The lesson is clear: national incentives and federal air rules cannot override a county-level prohibition.
As the KU wind-regulation study suggests, where wind projects ultimately get built is increasingly determined by local siting policy and transmission access, not wind speed alone.
In Osage County, local policy has drawn a firm line. And in a national environment shaped by grid bottlenecks, evolving tax-credit policy, and shifting EPA standards, developers appear less willing to wait out local bans than they once were.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
