The Company and Its Consultants
Since 2009 Pioneer Energy LLC has been developing The Lake Andes Wind Facility, now anticipated to be a 200 mega watt wind energy project located near Lake Andes, South Dakota. The proposed site anticipates using 45-62 large turbines and is located approximately two miles northwest of the Fort Randall dam and its substation owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
The project has several key advantages and public benefits: By integrating this wind facility with the hydro site, dam operators will have more flexibility in managing the flow of the Missouri River. Because the facility is only 4.7 miles away from the substation little power will be lost through delivery to the grid. The interconnection plan does not require the construction of new transmission lines and the site has one of the best wind regimes in South Dakota.
Pioneer Energy was founded by Angela M. Mitchell who had been involved in the development of alternative energy for the past twenty-five years. Angela passed away in November 2021. Company President James Muller has also managed the company and the development process since its founding. James is also the CEO of Promaxx Advanced Fuels a California company in the business of gas to liquid refinery systems.
Pioneer has an outstanding and well-reputed team of consultants: AWS Truepower has validated the wind study; Hatch is handling the engineering and planning; Close Consulting are tasked with the environmental aspects of the project. Acting as Project Coordinator is Jennifer Vecchi, of Vecchi & Associates; Constance Rogers of Davis, Graham & Stubbs is managing the power purchase, legal and permitting aspect; Leonard Roos is Pioneer Energy’s general counsel. Zeroing in on the power purchase aspect is Greg Merrigan, of Merrigan Energy.
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