From September 12-14, a diverse group of 18 Redwood County community members met at the Redwood Area Community Center for two and a half days to learn and make recommendations about the energy system and potential wind energy development in the area. The jury, a randomly selected but demographically representative group of 18 citizens, had access to resources and experts to produce their own independent recommendations that responded to the community's needs, priorities, concerns and values.
Expert speakers talked about how energy development happens, how it impacts county and landowner finances, design guidelines, and most importantly, how these topics are experienced and perceived by community members.
The Redwood County Energy Dialogue was the first of a two-community, wind development-focused series of the Rural Dialogues program. Through in-depth, democratic deliberation, this project is intended to offer new opportunities for communities in Greater Minnesota to consider the topic deeply, offer input, and make recommendations about how their communities should move forward.
