Proposal would bring wind farm in 2014

A proposed wind farm would erect 60 to 80 turbines along Interstate 40 in Donley and Gray counties, according to a company representative.

Ceilo Wind Power’s Robert Peña told Donley County Commissioners Tuesday that his company is considering a 120- to 140 Megawatt farm with two-thirds of the project being located on 10,000 to 12,000 acres in the northwestern part of the county and the remainder in Gray County.

Construction and acquisition on the project will cost about $3 million, and the total project will cost Cielo approximately $300 million.

When the project is completed, a five-person crew will be hired to maintain the facility with salaries ranging from the high 30,000s to the low 40,000s.

Peña said Cielo is working with local landowners at this time, and Tuesday’s meeting with county commissioners was to lay the groundwork for the company to request a tax abatement.

Peña hopes to formally begin that process in July with the county approving a reinvestment zone for the farm and holding a public hearing.

Construction would likely begin in 2014 and last about eight months, Peña said.

Cielo also enjoys working with community colleges, Peña said, and this week Clarendon College announced that the company has donated a meteorological tower to the college’s wind program on its Gray County campus.

“We like to be good community partners,” Peña said of the company, which has been in business since the 1990s.

Peña said Cielo will also make improvements on the county roads it will need to use during the construction of the wind farm and will maintain those roads during the duration of construction.

Peña also met with the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Chandra Eggemeyer and said he was planning to meet with Clarendon ISD officials later in the day.