Wind developers seek approval by year’s end possible by year

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post

BRIMFIELD – A proposed wind-energy project in northwest Peoria County might receive government approval by the end of this year, according to developers.

Permit applications regarding the Four Creeks Wind project are expected to be filed with Peoria County officials late this summer or early this autumn, according to Hanna Franklin. She is a development associate with Houston-based Repsol USA, which oversees the project.

“We’ve been here for a couple of years. Now we’re starting to get serious,” Four Creeks Wind Manager Carson Robers said April 23, when he joined Franklin in addressing the Brimfield School Board.

The project that includes 24,000 acres in Brimfield, Jubilee, Millbrook and Princeville townships has been under development since 2021. It’s targeted for completion in 2028.

Franklin said the Brimfield district is expected to receive about $1.2 million in property-tax revenue in the first year of operation, according to a Repsol analysis. Subsequent annual tax revenue for the 35-to-40-year project life would average about $800,000.

“We’re really looking to be a long-term partner with this community for these 40 years,” Robers said.
Project opponents who spoke at the board meeting suggested potential revenue is exaggerated and isn’t worth it, particularly regarding quality of life for those who reside near the wind turbines.

“I don’t believe that the money’s as good as they say it is,” said Dan Heinz, who helps lead the local No To Peoria County Windmills group.

Board members took no action regarding the Four Creeks Wind presentation. About a dozen people attended the meeting, including five or six with the No Windmills group.

Most of the proposed turbines, which are to be about 650 feet tall, are in the Princeville school district, Robers said. Previously, he said 80 to 100 turbines are planned. Public hearings are part of the permit-approval process.

In response to an audience question, Robers said such turbines have not reduced adjacent-property values dramatically, based on empirical data. A project with similar-sized turbines was completed recently in Mason County.

Older projects have featured shorter turbines. Robers has said taller turbines generate more power and require fewer turbines per project.

Repsol spent about $3 million last year on the Peoria County project, including more than $1 million in leases with more than 100 landowners, according to Franklin and Robers. The project is to be financed privately, although tax credits are to take effect after it begins operation.

“These projects aren’t going to go away if the tax credits go away,” Robers said.

Heinz and others in the audience appeared to prefer the wind project go away. Heinz said a forensic investigator his group hired found wind projects cause a 40% devaluation in nearby undeveloped property.
The No Windmills representative also distributed copies of a letter from Bill Mulvaney, a former school superintendent in Armstrong, located in Vermilion County.

The letter indicated some Armstrong students have had medical issues related to a wind-energy project. Among the complaints Mulvaney cited were headaches, lack of sleep and jaw problems.

Some families planned to move because of noise the turbines generated. Also of concern was the flickering of shadows rotating turbine blades cast on buildings and windows.

“While these issues were brought up at our panel discussions, I was not fully aware of the impact that the wind turbines would have,” Mulvaney wrote. “The revenue generated by the turbines is a blessing to our schools, but the unintended consequences are real.”

Mulvaney’s letter was not addressed to the Brimfield board. Heinz said Mulvaney’s claims jibe with his interviews of people who reside and farm near wind turbines.

“‘With a 20-mile wind at my back, I can still hear them,’” Heinz said. “It sounds like an airplane that never leaves, and they can’t stand it anymore.”