All blow and no show?

A year ago, the construction of a wind farm in southern Jay and northern Randolph counties seemed like a foregone conclusion.
After years of studies and planning, leases had been locked in and agreements signed. Ts were crossed and Is were dotted.
Construction on 70 wind turbines was expected to begin in the spring, but the months passed and the landscape has remained unchanged.
The delay: Finding an electrical supplier to commit to a long-term purchase of the energy the proposed 120-megawatt Bluff Point Wind Farm would produce.
American Electric Power (AEP) once seemed committed to being involved in the project being developed by NextEra Energy, but has since moved on to work with similar ventures elsewhere in East Central Indiana.
Local officials remain optimistic, although cautiously so, that the proposed $240 million project — of which $145 million would be invested in Madison, Jefferson and Pike townships in southern Jay County — will become a reality. It has the potential to bring in $20 million in tax revenue over the 30-year lifespan of the farm.
“There’s obviously a level of skepticism about it,” said Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation. “I wouldn’t say it’s a dead project by any means, but there isn’t the assuredness that a year ago there was.”
There has been little to no news about the project since NextEra representatives attended Jay County Commissioners, Jay County Council and Jay County Planning Commission meetings in December to finalize economic development, road use and decommissioning agreements and secure tax abatements. But Steve Stengel, a media relations representative for the Florida-based company, said NextEra is still intent on making the project happen.
“I wish I had breaking news … but essentially the project is where it was (this summer). It’s a project we’re still very interested in,” he said. “We think it’s a good project. We think it’s a good location.”
That location is an area covering about 30 square miles of southern Jay County bordered by county roads 700 East, 250 West, 600 North and 900 South (the Jay/Randolph county line). Forty-nine wind turbines were slated to be erected in Jay County, with another 21 in northern Randolph County.
The hiccup in the Bluff Point project came when AEP announced in June that it had reached an agreement with EDP Renewables on construction of the Headwaters Wind Farms in southern Randolph County. That project, slated to be operational by the end of 2014, will produce 200 megawatts of wind power as part of a 20-year purchase agreement.
“That’s really when it all unraveled,” said Bradley, noting that he’s recently had preliminary inquiries from a different company about a possible wind farm north of Pennville. “Up to that point we were all saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to have an agreement with AEP.’ …
“They strengthened their power lines between here and Decatur. … There were a lot of positive things that happened. And then all of a sudden …”
NextEra found itself looking for a new electricity buyer, a process that has yet to yield any results.
Local officials have expressed that there could be difficulty selling the power because of the scale of the wind farm — Bluff Point would produce 120 megawatts of energy compared to the 200 for Headwaters. But Stengel said the size of the wind farm is not an issue.
He said the lone hurdle for the project is finding a buyer, a company that would most likely be located in the Midwest.
“It doesn’t really make sense to sell it to someone in California, for example,” Stengel said, while not specifically setting boundaries as to where the electricity could be sold. “So there’s a finite number of customers that it would make economic sense to cell the power to.”
Stengel also noted that the expiration of the Production Tax Credit is not an issue for the project, at least not yet.
The PTC, which gives companies that create renewable energy a 2.2-cent benefit per kilowatt-hour for the first 10 years of operation, is slated to run out at the end of the year. But, Stengel noted, because Bluff Point is a continuing project, his company has until the end of 2015 to take advantage of the credit.
The recent delay in the project continues an on-again, off-again pattern that started in 2006 when AEP announced its intention to do a wind study in Jay County.
Area officials began reviewing guidelines in anticipation of a possible wind farm, and in 2009 AEP officials said testing showed the county is a favorable site. An AEP spokesman at that time discussed the possibility of a 120-megawatt wind farm that could include between 48 and 80 turbines.
AEP pulled out of the project in May of 2011, instead opting to help develop a similar wind farm in Grant, Howard and Madison counties. It seemed dead, but only briefly, as other companies immediately expressed interest with NextEra taking over four months later.
NextEra representatives met with Jay County officials in December, finalizing plans to begin construction on the project this year. But construction never moved forward, AEP announced its agreement with Headwaters in June and NextEra continues to try to find another buyer.
With all of the ups and downs in a project that has now been seven years in the planning, Stengel preached continued patience.
“Bluff Point is no different than any other project,” he said. “These are large capitol investments. You just can’t build these projects without having a customer.
“Any time you enter into a contractual arrangement with someone, there’s a lot of discussion that goes on. I think that certainly people understand that projects like this take time.”
The good news, Bradley said, is that if NextEra does find a buyer for the energy the wind farm would produce, the county is in a position to move forward with the project immediately.
“Everything is ready to go, no doubt about it,” he said. “We could move on it within 10 days.”[[In-content Ad]]