Aug 20 - Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.


The deadline for the special-use permit for development of a 36-turbine wind farm near El Paso expired Tuesday.

Last month, in an 8-6 vote, the Woodford County Board denied Pattern Energy's request to extend the special-use permit for the El Paso Wind Farm until Dec. 31, 2010. The company said it needed the extension because of poor economic conditions.

County zoning director John Hamann said that in a phone call Tuesday, a representative of Pattern Energy said the company would not be able to pull the project off.

Hamann said the representative did not say what the company would do next.

"If they choose to, they can start the whole process all over again with a new (special-use) application," Hamann said. "That would be about $40,000."

Phone calls to the company from the Journal Star were not returned.

It was just one year ago that the County Board granted a special-use permit for the wind farm, then proposed for 40 turbines. At the time, the permit stipulated that six turbines be removed from within a 1.5-mile radius of El Paso's municipal limits.

Like other proposed wind farm projects in the Woodford County area, the El Paso plan drew its share of critics who said the turbines would limit El Paso's growth and expressed concerns about the environment and safety.

The project was originally handled by Navitas Energy of Minneapolis. However, the recession forced its parent company, Babcock & Brown, to file for bankruptcy earlier this year. The project was then taken over by Pattern Energy of Houston, Texas.

-----

To see more of the Journal Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.PJStar.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

(c) 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services