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Friday, March 26, 2010
Environment - "Is Tippecanoe County next for wind farms?"
Max Showalter reports today in the Lafayette Journal Courier:
As wind turbines pile up next door in Benton and White counties, three alternative energy companies are taking a long look at portions of Tippecanoe County for wind farm developments.Invenergy Wind LLC, based in Chicago, is the closest to starting the application process, which could lead to a project in southwestern Tippecanoe County and portions of neighboring Fountain and Montgomery counties.
"We've continued to look at those areas. We have some land in Tippecanoe County pulled together to support such a project," said Bryan Schueler. He is a Purdue University graduate and Invenergy vice president for development for wind energy projects in the north central portion of the United States.
"We would hope to start moving this summer with an application to the county. We're hopeful there will be a reasonable ordinance to allow wind to move forward. We believe there is a fairly attractive wind resource in that part of Indiana." * * *
Landowners are paid a fee for every turbine that's erected on their property. Power lines that run the electricity to a substation also generate money for the properties involved.
The Tippecanoe County commissioners on April 5 will consider some amendments to the county's wind ordinance.
If approved, the changes would require developers to sign an economic development agreement with the county. A separate decommissioning statement also would be required, in case the project fails.
A flat fee of $2,500, plus $200 per turbine, would be charged for the large wind farms, along with an annual operating fee of half that cost --$1,250, plus $100 per tower.
County building inspectors would review the projects yearly to ensure that noise and other aspects of the wind turbines are still in compliance. * * *
"We're trying to develop wind projects that would benefit Indiana public schools. We're different than the large developers," said Tony Kuykendall, business development manager with Performance Services. "We find ways to integrate schools in the project.
"There's great wind resources in portions of Tippecanoe County. We're looking at smaller sizes of land. We'd like to identify two or three locations and begin wind resource analysis in the first half of the year -- sampling wind and collecting wind data."
Performance Services wind farms could be one-sixth to one-tenth the size of the existing, large developments in Benton and White counties.
Under the company's plan, income from the sale of electricity would benefit local schools, or they could power classrooms and other school buildings through wind energy and save on the cost of electricity.
One potential problem for Performance Services is an O'Hare Airport communications tower that is located in northwestern Tippecanoe County that requires a two-mile buffer.
"That's just unfortunate. The communications tower is definitely a concern for us," said Kuykendall. "The smaller area got smaller very quickly."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 26, 2010 09:54 AM
Posted to Environment