County to consider wind farm abatement next month

Donley County Commissioners again took no action on a proposed wind farm tax abatement when they held their regular meeting Tuesday, October 15.

The court met in closed session for about 45 minutes before reconvening in open session and taking no action. The matter will be brought up again at the court’s November 12 meeting.

Prior to the closed session, Cielo Wind Power representatives Robert Peña and John Robertson met with the commissioners.

Robertson reviewed the proposed wind farm project and said that wind development opportunities are really limited to the northwestern part of the county, and the project will require a 25-mile transmission line to tie in to the power grid.

Cielo is seeking a tax abatement that commissioners seem favorable to granting, but the payments the wind power company would make to the county in lieu of taxes appears to be a point of negotiation.

The project would be at least 80 megawatts and up to 160 megawatts with a maximum of about 36 turbines, depending on their capacity. More turbines could be added in the future, but those would have to be under a separate agreement with the county.

Part of the project will be built in Gray County, where Cielo is currently working on a separate tax agreement.

Robertson said Cielo intends to either start construction or purchase five percent of the equipment for the project by January 1, 2014, in order to qualify for federal tax credits.