jobs beyond the initial construction phases, he points out. Every group of 100 turbines requires at least 15 permanent maintenance workers, Nickell says, as well as office staff to handle administrative duties and oversee the wind farm’s operation. Additionally, AWEM is partnering with the Capital Area Career Center and other schools to develop training programs that will fill the new jobs with local workers.
“We don’t want to build a wind farm and then have to bring in people from Texas to run it,” Nickell says. “We’d rather hire locally.”
Sangamon County would also benefit from the property taxes paid by AWEM for each turbine. Nickell says each turbine is valued at approximately $360,000 per megawatt, so a two-megawatt machine is assessed for tax purposes at about $740,000.
“If we put up 100 machines in the first phase, that’s like 100 threequarter-million-dollar houses going up,” he says. “There will eventually be 200 turbines, so you can imagine the tax revenue that comes with that, not only for the county, but for the school districts, roads, police…” Producing renewable green energy locally is another plus, Nickell says. Wind power requires no fuel and produces no emissions, Nickell points out, so it qualifies for federal Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). The federal Environmental Protection Agency allows energy companies that burn fossil fuels to purchase RECs to offset their carbon footprints with renewable energy sources.
“Companies like Ameren, CWLP, anyone burning coal have a benefit for buying wind power, because they also buy the RECs that come with the power,” he says. “We haven’t signed a contract to sell the power, but if we’re able to sign a contract with CWLP and/or Ameren, that power will then be flowing into the local power grid. CWLP actually buys wind power right now from a wind farm in Iowa. We could sell our power to the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) or ComEd in Chicago, but we’d rather deal with local entities.”
Wind power is also an investment in the future, Nickell says. He explains that electricity demand is highest at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it then falls off at night. If electric cars become more common, however, the overnight drop in demand will likely disappear because families will probably recharge their cars during the dark hours – which is exactly when wind power is most productive, he says.
David Sinn, a farmer and landowner in Tazewell County, has wind turbines on his family’s land within the Rail Splitter wind farm, and he acts as a tour guide for Horizon Wind Energy.
“They’ve done a lot of good for our county,” Sinn says, adding that Horizon paid to upgrade county roads, repaired broken field tiles and contributed enough money to the county to build a new local township building.
“Each windmill generates $13,500 in real estate taxes for our schools and the county,” Sinn says. “The job opportunities have really helped, too. It’s a blessing.”
Still, not everyone in Sangamon County is crazy about the prospect of 200 wind turbines towering over local homes. In January, Sangamon County Board member Tom Fraase submitted a measure to the board that would increase the county’s setback requirement for wind turbines to one mile (see “A setback for wind power” Feb. 4, 2010, at www.illinoistimes.com).
Currently, turbines cannot be located within 1.5 miles of an incorporated area of 10,000 people or more, within a half mile of an incorporated area of less than 10,000 people, or in a place that would interfere with contiguous urban development. Turbines must also be located 1,200 feet from non-participating homes, 1.1 times the turbine height from utility lines and public roads, and the greater of 1,000 feet or three times the rotor diameter from other structures.
Fraase says he has since changed his setback amendment for non-participating homes to nine times the height of the wind turbines.
Because each turbine will likely be about 450 feet tall with a turbine diameter of 295 feet, the setback requirement from nonparticipating homes would effectively be pushed to 5,377 feet – 97 feet beyond a mile – under Fraase’s proposal. The measure was sent to the county Zoning Board of Appeals, which has yet to act on it.
“To me, the taller (the turbines) get, the farther the setbacks ought to be,” Fraase says.
“There are going to be residents out there who don’t want them, and this is to protect the nonparticipating residents.”
At a public meeting to discuss the possible project on Jan. 25, Sangamon County resident Cindy Bomke said she had gathered about 450 signatures on a petition for greater setbacks.
“We’re not opposed to wind energy, but we’re concerned about the proximity to homes as it relates to property values, health issues and everything else,” Bomke said at the meeting.
New Berlin village president Steve Frank says he isn’t opposed to alternative sources of energy, but allowing windmills within a half-mile of the village could hamper future expansion.
“It seems like most of our development is to the west right now, and if the county allows wind turbines within a halfmile, that would restrict us,” Frank says.
The 2000 census showed a 30 percent increase in the village’s population, Frank says, and although the 2010 census numbers aren’t available yet, the village has grown since then.
“If the economy turns around here one of these days, we’re anticipating even more growth,” Frank says. “We just want to make sure we’re not boxed in.”
Tim Moore, chairman of the Sangamon County Public Health, Safety and Zoning committee, says Fraase’s amendment has been tabled while the committee looks into about 20 different issues associated with wind farm development, including financing, setback requirements, property values and more. For example, Moore says the committee wants to ensure that the county does not have to pay for costs associated with removing each turbine at the end of its useful life.
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