Logan County wind farm project seeks tax plan approval
Credit: By Katherine Collins, Staff Writer | Springfield News-Sun | www.springfieldnewssun.com ~~
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A company that wants to build a wind farm in Logan County will seek approval of its tax plan before it starts construction.
Everpower wants to build about 18 turbines in Logan County as a part of its Scioto Ridge Wind Farm project, Project Manager Jason Dagger said.
“We are awaiting a decision from the Ohio Department of Development that would ask the Logan County commissioners to approve a payment in lieu of tax structure,” he said.
If commissioners reject the payment plan, he said, it’s likely Everpower will not build in Logan County.
The project will bring about $1.8 million in revenue annually to Logan and Hardin counties, Dagger said. Everpower’s payment proposal has already been approved in Hardin County, he said.
About two-thirds of the revenue will go to Hardin County, he said, and one-third will go to Logan County if approved.
Much of the revenue will go to local schools, roads and libraries, he said.
Everpower recently reached a deal with a group of neighbors to reduce the number of turbines in the wind farm and move it farther from Indian Lake. But not all neighbors are happy with the plan.
“I don’t want this in my backyard. I don’t want it in my neighbor’s backyard. I don’t want it in anybody’s backyard,” said Michael Shepherd, founder of Fight the Wind, a group aimed at stopping the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm project.
He now lives in Logan County but created the group once he found out turbines would be built near his Hardin County home.
“With my home being surrounded, we decided we had to move,” he said. “I just didn’t see a future living there anymore.”
“The cons of living in an industrial zone outweighed the pros of…our house and home we’d built,” he said.
He wants commissioners to deny Everpower’s tax plan for Logan County to prevent the company from building there.
“We’re hoping we can save Logan County,” he said.
Shepherd said the turbines aren’t environmentally friendly.
“The amount of coal that gets burned to produce the electricity to run the factories that produce (turbines) is far more than saved by what they’re going to do once they’re built,” he said.
But Dagger said the turbines are a clean, renewable source of energy and solely use the wind to operate.
“Each turbine will generate enough energy for about 68,000 homes annually,” he said.
A decision on Everpower’s tax plan is expected within the next few months, Dagger said.
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