Goodhue Wind will deliver substantial and long-term economic benefits to local landowners, communities, government, and businesses.
Highlights
Strengthening rural communities: Community wind projects build stronger rural communities because they diversify and enhance the local economy, keeping more jobs and profit at home.
Ensuring substantial—and long-term—economic benefits:
- Goodhue Wind is expected to bring about $180 million in total
project-related economic activity. - Landowner lease payments alone will total nearly $20 million over 20 years.
- The county and townships will receive about $300,000 per year in production
tax revenue—about $6 million over the life of the project. - These tax revenues will help fund schools, roads, bridges, and other
essential community-serving projects.
Good for local business and employment:
- Project activities will benefit businesses, workers, and contractors in
Goodhue County - Up to 200 jobs for construction
- Increased business for local stores, gas stations, restaurants, hotels,
hardware suppliers, etc. - Several more permanent jobs for operations and maintenance
Voluntary 1,500-ft turbine setback to accommodate neighbors: Goodhue Wind has made a voluntary commitment to set back turbines at least 1,500 feet from non-participating landowners’ homes (more than a quarter mile—or five football fields), the most conservative uniform setback for any Minnesota wind project to date, and much more than strict state standards require.
Now lets take a closer look at the benefits of this project and wind in general across the country:
Community Ownership in the Wind Project
Many traditional developers will tell you that their wind developments benefit landowners by providing them with royalty or lease payments. While this does provide some economic benefit to the community, under this model, there is no chance for ownership or local participation. This is not how Goodhue Wind operates. As a community-based wind energy development company, we give landowners the opportunity to influence and take ownership interest in a project. Goodhue Wind encourages community involvement, fostering camaraderie and growth within the company and the neighborhood. We pride ourselves on our commitment to open, two-way communication with the community.
Community Benefits of the Wind Project
Increased Landowner Income: The University of Minnesota-Morris reports that community owned wind farms, such as those National Wind develops, can have 5 times the local economic impact of traditional, corporate owned wind farms. Property owners and farmers can share in both annual turbine lease payments and revenues of a successful project, helping sustain their rural livelihoods and provide a steady income.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory also reports that community wind projects have construction-period employment impacts that are 1.1 to 1.3 times higher and operations-period impacts that are 1.1 to 2.8 times higher than corporate-owned wind.
Increased Local Tax Base: Production tax payments provide much needed revenue to rural communities for building new schools, roads, bridges, and other community infrastructure. Currently, Minnesota wind farms pay a production tax which is assessed by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The wind developer pays the production tax; it is not passed on to the landowner. The tax is $.0012 per kWh of energy produced on the property where a turbine is placed (this is for a wind farm of 12 megawatts or larger). This money is collected at the state level and disseminated at the county level.
Policy Support Creates Jobs and Economic Stimulus: Minnesota has a very aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), requiring utilities to purchase 25% of their energy from renewable resources by 2025. According to Minnesota 2020, a progressive, non-partisan think tank, taking full advantage of the RPS will not only add an additional 4,000 megawatts of wind energy to the state, it will create 2,200 construction phase jobs and 900 sustained jobs during wind farm operations. This in turn will pump $9 million into our economy during construction phases and $1.5 billion in revenues to local counties and townships. Also, if passed, a 25% by 2025 National RPS would create $13.5 billion in income to property owners and farmers along with providing $11.5 billion in new local tax revenues, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. It also would reduce consumer electricity bills by $64.3 million.
National Energy Security and Price Stability: Continued reliance on imported fossil fuel energy sources exposes the nation to price risks and supply uncertainties. Even small changes in the price of fuel can cause large economic disruptions across the country. Diversifying our national energy portfolio with renewable sources like wind energy significantly improve national energy security. When electric utilities have a Power Purchase Agreement or own wind turbines, the price of energy is expected to remain relatively at and predictable for the life of the wind project. Therefore, because wind is not subject to volatile price fluctuations like fossil fuels, it will help create stability in electricity supplies and rates for consumers.
Becoming involved in wind energy now will ensure that struggling families have a secure future. While wind energy isn’t the sole answer to our country’s economic problems, it has
gained signi ficant worldwide recognition as part of the solution. At a time when few clear solutions exist, it’s important that we seize upon the ones we have in our reach.
