The North Dakota Public Service Commission has postponed a hearing that was scheduled for June 28 in Ashley to discuss the 150-megawatt Merricourt Wind Power Project.

EDF Renewable Development has submitted an application for a revised site plan in connection with the proposed 150-megawatt project. It would be located between the communities of Merricourt, Edgeley, Kulm, Fredonia, Ellendale, Forbes and Ashley.

The PSC first approved a permit for the project in 2011 and an amendment was approved in 2015.

State law requires that notice of a public hearing for a siting case must be published in the official county newspaper of each county where the project will be located. The notice must run at least twice in each publication — once at least 20 days prior to the hearing and a second time within 20 days of the hearing date

After publishing one notice, The Ashley Tribune failed to publish the notice the second time, requiring the PSC to postpone the hearing and reschedule it.

“We know how much our government entities and citizens depend on these public notices and deeply regret the inconvenience it has caused," says Ashley Tribune publisher Tony Bender.

A new hearing date will be set and advertised through public notices and a news release.

“The company asked us to hold off on having the hearing just on the outside chance that somebody could view this as a technicality, and object and tangle up the whole thing," says Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak.