Iberdrola makes second PILOT payment

Van Wert independent/submitted information

Iberdrola Renewables, owner and operator of the Blue Creek Wind Farm, on Tuesday presented a check at the Van Wert County Courthouse to local officials in Van Wert County to commemorate the second of two yearly PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) payments the Blue Creek Wind Farm will make to the community.

Van Wert County, with 115 turbines, received its second payment in 2015 of $1,035,000, an amount that makes the wind farm the largest single taxpayer in the county. Approximately two-thirds of this money will go to support schools and the remainder benefits the county, townships and other local taxing bodies.

The breakdown of total annual payments is as follows: $853,251 to Crestview Local Schools, $404,092 to Lincolnview Local Schools, $143,783 to Vantage Career Center, $32,046 to Hoaglin Township, $126,228 to Union Township, $6,230 to Tully Township, $425 to the Tully-Convoy Park District, $72,649 to Van Wert County’s General Fund, $130,161 to Thomas Edison Center, $13,622 to the Van Wert County Council on Aging, $30,270 to Tri County ADAMHS Board, $12,108 to the Ohio State University Extension-Van Wert County, $15,135 to Brumback Library and $230,000 to Van Wert County as a general service fee. Iberdrola will pay a total of $2,070,000 to the county in 2015.

“Our wind farm has been operating smoothly for over three years now and we thank the Van Wert County community for the warm reception we have received,” said Iberdrola Project Developer Dan Litchfield. “At this point, it should be apparent to all that wind energy can be a positive contributor to your community, and we look forward to working with you to add more wind turbines, and thus more benefits, for you and Iberdrola Renewables.

“In addition to the clean, affordable and stable-priced electricity and local tax revenue, we also produce a new crop from area farm fields,” Litchfield added. “With this year’s rainy summer, it’s a great reminder that it is always good to diversify farm income.”

The approximately $600 million wind farm was the largest single private investment in Ohio in 2011 and achieved commercial operation in June 2012. Even before the plant became operational, building Blue Creek created more than 500 construction jobs, $25 million in local spending and put more than 30 Ohio companies to work. Blue Creek [video, photos, fact sheet] is the largest wind farm in Ohio and Iberdrola Renewables’ largest in the U.S. The total output is 304 megawatts (MW) and it generates enough electricity to power 76,000 average Ohio homes each year.

The Blue Creek Wind Farm also makes approximately $2 million in annual lease payments to local landowners. Of 28,000 leased acres of corn, soybean and wheat fields, Blue Creek occupies less than 200 acres.

Iberdrola Renewables LLC is the U.S. renewable energy division of parent company Iberdrola, S.A., an energy pioneer with the largest renewable asset base of any company in the world. Iberdrola Renewables LLC is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and has more than $10 billion of operating assets, totaling more than 5,800 MW of wind and solar generation. www.iberdrolarenewables.us.