November 29, 2018
Illinois

Wind energy panel brought to Franklin H.S. Tuesday

By Blake Schnitker on November 28 | wlds.com

Dozens of residents from across Morgan County gathered for an informational meeting in Franklin last night regarding potential wind farms.

Over the past few months, the idea of eastern Morgan County becoming a home for a number of potential wind turbines has been the topic of conversation in the area, whether with the Morgan County Board of Commissioners or amongst everyday citizens. While there are several different wind companies vying for the potential to construct wind farms in the eastern portion of the county, Apex Clean Energy played host to an informational meeting last night at Franklin High School.

Apex Clean Energy’s Helen Humphries says the idea behind last night’s meeting was to continue an open dialogue with members of the community.

“The purpose of the meeting is to share information with area residents about subjects related to wind energy development. Since we’ve come into the community, we’ve received a lot of questions about decommissioning, sound, property values, and other topics. What we did was assemble a group of professionals who have built a career out of understanding those subjects and offer the community the opportunity to hear from them.”

As previously reported, the Morgan County Board of Commissioners is currently reviewing the local wind energy ordinance, and has stated that they will not accept any applications from wind energy companies until that ordinance has been sufficiently revised. Humphries discusses that Morgan County ordinance and how it impacts Apex.

“That ordinance outlines what information the applicant has to submit to the county in order for them to consider a permit. We expect the County to make a number of changes to the ordinance. In addition, the state environmental agency is going to review a number of facets of our project, including things like erosion and sedimentation controls, and wildlife impact. We work with those agencies to make sure that our project – if constructed – won’t have a large impact on wildlife.”

For those who were unable to attend the meeting but would like to learn more, Humphries says that last night’s meeting was recorded on video and will be posted to the website lincolnlandwind.com.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/11/29/wind-energy-panel-brought-to-franklin-h-s-tuesday/