March 14, 2008
Illinois
Illinois
Invenergy informally approached Streator about extending the city’s enterprise zone to encompass a proposed addition to the company’s wind farm project, City Manager Paul Nicholson said Thursday.
Invenergy currently is constructing a 66-turbine wind farm covering nearly 6,000 acres in Brookfield, Allen and Grand Rapids townships. The firm wants to eventually add another 167 turbines, which it hopes would be eligible for enterprise zone benefits.
Being part of the enterprise zone would result in sales tax abatement for the company. Invenergy wants the benefit only during the construction phase of the proposed project addition and would relinquish it once the turbines are operational, Nicholson said.
PPM Energy made a similar request last year regarding the La Salle County portion of the proposed 450-turbine wind farm it hopes to build along Cayuga Ridge between Streator and Pontiac, he said. The PPM Energy project is pending approval by the La Salle and Livingston county boards, but is chiefly seen as being delayed by Livingston County officials because they still are deciding what kind of regulations to apply to wind farms in their county.
No decision has been made regarding whether Streator enterprise zone benefits will be extended to either project.
Craig Wieczorkiewicz
14 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/14/invenergy-wants-wind-farm-included-in-enterprise-zone/