“Removal of Osage County wind farm paused”, 7 March 2025

A decade-long legal battle over an Osage County wind farm has taken another turn.

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A federal judge ruled in late 2023 that Enel had trespassed and misused Osage resources.

Beyond millions of dollars in fines, in 2024, the court ordered windy company Enel to remove the wind farm and restore the land by the end of 2025 …

On Monday, U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves temporarily paused the order to remove the wind farm. At the same time, the company that owns it, Enel, appeals the decision. However, Enel has 14 days to post a $10 million bond as a condition for the delay, allowing them to keep the wind farm in place while they fight the ruling in court.

It’s the latest twist in a years-long battle.

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The legal fight began in 2014 when the Osage Minerals Council, an arm of the Osage Nation that owns and manages all the mineral rights in Osage County, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office sued, arguing that Enel’s excavation — done with explosives — was mining, which required a permit the company never obtained.

The judge ordered the company to pay nearly $4 million in damages and legal fees. While Enel claimed they owed just $69,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office estimated damages at $38 million. In December 2024, the judge ordered Enel to pay nearly $68,000 for trespass and $243,000 for misuse of Osage resources. Enel also owes nearly $2 million each to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Osage Mineral Council to cover legal fees and costs for the decade-long case.

Enel argued that removing the turbines would cost $36 million and secured a smaller bond of about $5 million for the damages. The Osage Minerals Council and the federal government wanted the company to post a much larger bond — $50 million — but the judge decided that was too much and set it at $10 million instead. …