Lawsuit Targets Hinton's Ban Against Wind Turbines Around City Limits

The small town of Hinton is facing off with a big corporation over wind energy.

Earlier this year, Hinton passed an ordinance banning wind turbines in a radius of two miles around city limits.

NextEra Energy thinks the city did not have the right to pass such a law and is now suing the city with a population of about 3,200.

NextEra said it wants to build 156 wind turbines around Hinton.

The mayor of Hinton thinks the turbines will affect the city's possible growth.

“The concern we have in Hinton is that if we wanted to build a new neighborhood there wouldn’t be a place for them because we are short of housing,” Hinton Mayor Shelly Newton told News 9.

Newton said only about five or six turbines are affected by the two mile buffer zone.

NextEra Energy has 13 wind farms in Oklahoma and said it’s in the process of bringing about a dozen more online.

Some farmers have already decided to lease their land for the wind turbines.