ST. PAUL - Minn. - The room was packed as the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted to approve permits for the Freeborn Wind Farm.
Residents wore red and green shirts to show their support of or opposition to the project. One of those in red is Dorenne Hansen, organizer of the Association of Freeborn County Landowners. To describe how she felt after the decision, she said, "very upset. This is not at all what we expected. We followed the rules. We've followed the process."

But for the people wearing green, and Dan Litchfield, director of renewable development for Invenergy, the developers of the project, the hearing is a win. Litchfield has a message for people who still have concerns: "Our door is always open to get into this and we've had a number of conversations. We'll have more.
Litchfield says there's still some details to work out, but he expects construction on the wind farm to begin next fall. While the commissioners have made their decision, Hansen tells KIMT the fight isn't over. "The concern is, where do we go from here? Because we're not done," she says.
The wind farm will span parts of Freeborn and Worth counties.