The Vermilion County Board has approved plans to erect more wind turbines across the northern part of the county. Musketeer Wind Energy, LLC is proposing adding up to 81 wind turbines between Rankin and Hoopeston. Several citizens voiced concerns at Tuesday night’s county board meeting about an eight-acre battery storage area that is part of the plans.
Kevin Moore lives in northern Vermilion County…
{AUDIO: “If this is for grid support wouldn’t these systems be more efficient located closer to high demand centers (and) cities? Locate them close to substations in high-density areas where when they’re called upon they can deliver energy with much lower line loss.}
Russ Hiatt has managed farmland for forty-six years and told board members he strongly supports Invenergy’s plan for the windfarm…
{AUDIO: “Invenergy has been a company that I find to be high in integrity. And they have fulfilled every commitment that they said they would fulfill. And in the construction process – yes, there are things that go wrong. But it’s not that things go wrong – it’s how you resolve those issues. And my experience with Invenergy is what they said they would do – they did. And when it was broke, they fixed it. And many times – particularly in drainage lines – they fixed it in better condition than its original condition.”
Greg Vasilion, lead developer on the project, called it an “economic powerhouse”. He said it will generate $100-million dollars in new property tax revenue over the next 30 years…
{AUDIO: “And that averages out to about $3.3 million dollars every year to various taxable entities within Vermilion County. In addition to the economic opportunity from the tax revenue, there is also the jobs that the project will create, including hundreds during construction and also between ten and fifteen during the operation of the project.}
Vasilion expects the company to seek a building permit within a year. He added it would then likely take one to two years to get the new wind towers erected. The county board approved the siting application of Musketeer Wind Energy, LLC with 15 board members voting in favor, seven against and two board members abstaining. Three others were absent.
Also approved during the meeting was a resolution approving a livestock management plan for a small solar farm west of Ridge Farm.
