Gratiot County Wind Farm is Drawing National News Coverage
An article about the Gratiot County Wind Farm is featured in Midwest Energy News and is also being run by SolveClimate News which is based in New York.
“Michigan county welcomes wind farm with open arms”
By M. Lisa Weatherford
While many communities are imposing moratoria on commercial wind farms, one mid-Michigan county is putting out the welcome mat to not one but potentially three major wind developments. The first wind farm, a $440 million project with more than 125 turbines, will be up and spinning in Gratiot County by the end of 2011. Close on its heels are two more projects that are in different stages of development and could bring several hundred additional turbines within the next few years.
Gratiot County is a bucolic rural setting where farming is the primary occupation and barns and silos dot the flat landscape for miles. And for the most part, these farmers are welcoming the wind development as a means of income, a way to sustain family farms and as a boon to both the local economic and natural environments.
The first stage of the project will provide 150 skilled construction jobs, 15 full-time technician jobs, and $1.2 million in annual revenue for the county and municipalities. Landowners will get $80 per acre for leasing space for a turbine and a percentage of gross royalties. The project is expected to generate enough electricity to power 54,000 homes annually.