Column: Opsahls back statement with fact, win a Quill

Talk about wind power has revved up since Dean and Diane Opsahl wrote their letter to the editor last month.

That’s true on these pages, certainly. But the debate also is growing at the Minnesota Legislature, where some lawmakers want to redistribute the tax revenues.

While the state still taxes wind farms on the energy produced, the split is no longer 80 percent to the host county, 14 percent to the township and 6 percent to the local school, as the Opsahls wrote in their letter published March 6.

“The state Legislature took this money away from local schools, I believe starting in June,” Dean Opsahl said Friday.

“The last I have read on negotiations is that 3 percent may come back to the local schools and that the other 3 percent — in a compromise — to the townships.

“This will at least keep the money local which is very important,” he added.

Dean and Diane Opsahl submitted their letter prior to the township meetings held statewide. They wanted to get their neighbors talking about wind power, and what better time than at the annual meetings?

The Republican Eagle Readers Board awarded the Opsahls the Golden Quill for their letter. Board members noted that the Opsahls touched a lot of bases yet were succinct, they backed up their statements with fact and then urged people to research wind power as they have.

The letter, which is reprinted here, didn’t tell people what to do, one board member noted, but told people how to do it — with thoughtful debate.

Tags: opinion, column