On Thursday, May 7, 2015 Paulding County was issued a large tax check by EDP Renewables. The $898,425 comes from the wind farms called Timber Road II for a one year period.
The Timber Road III wind farm should start production in 2016 just north of Payne, OH. This new farm will produce approximately 100 MW from approximately 50 wind towers depending on the models that are installed. Each one of the wind farms takes up less than an acre of land usage including the drive to get to it, and it can produce much power through wind energy.
Paulding County Commissioner Tony Zartman said he was enthusiastic for the county to see the new windmills be built. “It can bring economic development and it’s just a good thing for Paulding County.”
The revenue brought in from these tax dollars from the EDP Renewables wind farm will be distributed throughout the county for schools and other public expenses.
Project Manager Erin Bowser from EDP Renewables mentioned Tony Burkley, Payne native and representative for Paulding County in the Ohio House of Representatives, introduced HB 190 legislation on May 6 in the Ohio House of Representatives that will allow Ohio counties to regulate the installation of their own wind farms instead of it leading decided at the state level. It will also renew SB 232 that will have wind utilities taxed at megawatt rate instead of the traditional utility method.
One of the things that has delayed the Timber Road III project from being built is getting contracts for selling the electricity. At this time it looks like this has all been solved and will soon see a lot of construction in the area. Getting landowners and Paulding County farmers on board is going well.
Some states and counties have major hindrances from their local populace or authorities who don’t quite understand the importance of renewable electricity. Luckily areas in Ohio are forward thinking and allow technology such as this.
Dana Saucier, a representative from JobsOhio was looking into Paulding County for new industry. What he does is look for industry and how they compare it up with manufacturers who are looking to move into the state. Many manufacturers are now looking at the point of using green energy, and Ohio has a selling point with already being established in this field. Industry moving to this area also could open up for receiving green credits on taxes.
Recently it was written in a magazine that The Ohio State University needed electricity and they wanted to make sure it was green so they had saved over $1 million by purchasing their electricity from Northwest Ohio.
There’s a lot of excitement with what is going on in Paulding County with the wind technology and wind farms. Many more things will be happening in the years to come with the manufacturing that is moving in because of this.
