Sept. 29, 2026 — A new wind farm may be on the horizon in Hector. But who gets the final say?
Episode notes
Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
New York has set lofty environmental goals for itself … and it's behind schedule.
In 2020, the state set up a complex judicial process to standardize the permitting process for renewable energy projects. But that process also takes much of the decision-making power away from local officials and from people who live in these communities.
Now, that conflict is coming to a head just across the county line, in the Town of Hector, where a Colorado-based company wants to build a 100 megawatt wind farm.
Access a time-stamped transcript by clicking the button with three lines on the embedded player. For a full page transcript, click here. The transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors.
Original air date: September 29, 2026.
Reported by Fernando Figueroa
Hosted and edited by Megan Zerez
Cover art image by Ayşenur Yılmaz/Pexels