PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A new wind-power project proposed for central South Dakota can proceed.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission decided Thursday to let North Bend Wind go ahead.

The permit approval came after intervenors Don and Judi Bollweg of rural Harrold reached a settlement with North Bend Wind and withdrew.

“We’ve arranged for a resolution of this matter,” their attorney, James Malters of Worthington, Minnesota, said.

An evidentiary hearing had been scheduled for December 13-14, 2022, but the commission canceled it on December 1 after getting word that the Bollwegs had reached a deal.

“I want to thank everyone for working to come to that particular resolution,” commission chair Chris Nelson said Thursday.

Said North Bend Wind attorney Brett Koenecke of Pierre, “It’s been quite a path for this docket to get to this point.”

He noted that one part of the settlement allows for aerial spraying of crop fields in the area.

The project in western Hyde and eastern Hughes counties calls for 71 turbines spread across some 46,931 acres of rural land in Butte, Chapelle, Harrold, Holabird, Pleasant Valley, Pratt, and Webster townships.

The Triple H wind farm in Hyde County is east of where North Bend plans to be. Commission staff attorney Amanda Reiss said, “This settlement with the conditions is very, very similar to Triple H.”