HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The lawsuit filed by NextEra Energy and numerous landowners now has a hearing date.

Reno County Judge Tim Chambers set a Sept. 30 hearing over the legality of the protest petitions associated with a proposed wind farm.

NextEra Energy and Pretty Prairie Wind, LLC., claim in their lawsuit that some of the petitions are not valid because of the method in which they were acquired. The lawsuit says the petitions should be dismissed. They are seeking a summary judgment on that issue. If Judge Tim Chambers finds they are invalid, the case would go to the Kansas Court of Appeals on that issue alone, according to County Counselor Joe O’Sullivan.

Landowners within the area of the proposed wind farm managed to force a super vote of the Reno County Commission, meaning all three had to be in favor of granting the permit.

The landowners motion to intervene in the lawsuit in an effort to keep the protest petition documents valid will also be considered. They want the decision of the county commission upheld. They worry that, if the protest petitions deemed valid were to be made invalid, the two commissioners who voted in favor could then grant the conditional use permit.