by Barry Hart | [email protected]
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I can still remember a time when experts thought Missouri was only “marginal” as a potential location for wind farms. Early attempts at turning wind into energy failed, in large part because the technology hadn’t advanced much beyond the windchargers that once were used to power radios in the days before rural electrification.
All that changed in 2007 when leaders from Missouri’s electric cooperatives gathered in a field near King City to dedicate the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm. That project provided renewable energy capacity to the electric cooperative grid at a time when energy use was rapidly growing.
Bluegrass Ridge was pioneering in both its scale and the technology that harvested the strong winds that blow through this part of northwest Missouri. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership from Associated Electric Cooperative, where savvy employees recognized the potential from this untapped natural resource.
Associated agreed to buy the entire output from this project, the last link in a chain that made Bluegrass Ridge possible. This commitment, as well as the strong high-voltage transmission system owned by Associated and N.W. Electric Power Cooperative, made wind power a reality in Missouri.
Over the years, additional wind farms sprouted in Missouri as the state’s electric cooperatives added to their renewable resources. The Conception and Cow Branch wind farms began operation in 2008. Two years later, Lost Creek Wind Farm added another 100 turbines to King City. In 2012, Associated added power from the Flat Ridge 2 project in Kansas.
And in 2015, the Osage Wind Farm in Oklahoma added another 94 turbines to the mix. KAMO Power helped put the transmission infrastructure in place to deliver this power to cooperative members.
Early this year, I traveled to Maryville for another renewable energy announcement held at Northwest Missouri State University, my alma mater. A large crowd showed up to support the project including local farmers, county and city leaders and even the Northwest Missouri State University President John Jasinski. Here Associated announced the signing of a 25-year purchase agreement for 236 megawatts of wind energy from a new project called Clear Creek to be built in Nodaway County.
Advances in technology make this fifth wind farm a good fit for Missouri’s electric cooperatives. It’s being hailed as a hedge on increases in the price of fuel — coal and natural gas — used to generate electricity for members.
It’s also going to make a big difference in the economy of a region that is dependent on agriculture. Area farmers fortunate enough to have a wind turbine on their land tell me this is the same as having crop insurance. Lease payments provide much-needed income for farmers in years when bad weather destroyed crops.
The economic benefits have extended beyond payments to landowners. Area businesses from restaurants to hotels to automotive repair shops have seen an increase in business since the wind farms were built.
Tenaska, the developer of the new Clear Creek project, estimates its construction will boost the local economy by $200 million to $300 million. It will create more than 200 jobs at peak construction and result in up to 15 full-time jobs when it becomes operational in 2020.
The project also will increase tax revenue by more than $1.2 million annually, benefitting local schools and county government, while adding the same amount in lease payments to area farmers. This revenue will multiply as it works its way through the area economy.
You could say this agreement is a “wind-win” for electric cooperative members statewide.
Editor’s note: Mr. Hart is executive vice president of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.