Red Rock ready for permitting
Wind energy project has applied for Emmet County permit
Posted Thursday, October 10, 2024 4:12 pm
By Amy H. Peterson - Staff Writer
It’s taken a long time to get to this point. Several Emmet County stakeholders, landowners, and investors started exploring a wind turbine project in the county at least 15 years ago. Invenergy project manager Joe Crowley told the Estherville News that the past two years of developing the project in Emmet and Dickinson Counties has included preparing applications, performing studies, gathering public input, and finally arriving at the point of submitting the permit application to Emmet County on October 3
Invenergy is the world’s leading provider of clean energy; in Iowa the company provides up to one-third of the state’s wind capacity. This project will add 300 megawatts to the grid that spans areas of Emmet, Dickinson, and Clay counties with 48,000 participating acres and 106 turbine locations approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Emmet, Iowa’s windiest county, has what Crowley called a world-class wind resource. “We’ve connected with people in the community on the planning and zoning commission level, and during an informational meeting at the Estherville VFW in late August,” Crowley said. The company plans to continue engaging with the community through additional update meetings, connecting with chambers of commerce, emergency services groups, and other stakeholders, through sponsorship of events and conferences, through the scholarship Invenergy established with Iowa Lakes Community College for students in the wind energy program, and through its efforts to be a good neighbor. Crowley said Invenergy has approached landowners for leases that are 100% voluntary.
Sustainability extends beyond the environmental benefits of wind energy– Crowley said the revenue earned by hosting turbines means farmers will spend the money upgrading equipment and infrastructure, and take other steps to make their farms profitable and more likely to be passed down to future generations. “The project has benefit to the community in taxes, payments to landowners, to payments for turbines once they’re installed, and throughout very good connection to the communities in which we work,” Crowley said. That tax revenue could mean up to $525,000 in annual tax revenues to Emmet County, or $21 million over the life of the project.
Another huge benefit is jobs created not only during construction, but throughout the life of the projects. The job will bring 300 construction jobs to the area and employ eight full-time wind techs over the project’s 40-year lifespan. Connecting with Iowa Lakes Community College’s wind program has meant some local young people have been able to return to or remain in the Emmet County area and stay local instead of moving away from the area for work in their field. Crowley gave the example of one Iowa Lakes wind turbine technology graduate who’d moved to Oklahoma for a job, but could now return to northwest Iowa to live and work.
Will the energy produced by the turbines stay local? Crowley said that depends upon the local demand for the energy. Think of wind energy as a commodity like corn and soybeans. Most of the corn and soybeans produced in Iowa are exported to other areas. If the demand for the energy is local, it will be used by local residents and businesses. If not, the energy will go where the demand and need are greater. In Iowa’s windiest county, wind is an excellent resource and another diversified source of revenue for landowners that’s dependable, predictable and stable, Crowley said.
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