Over the objections of land owners in the county, the Winona County Board has voted to move forward with a plan to develop a wind turbine project and sell its power to Exel Energy.

Everyone at the public hearing agreed that clean renewable energy is a good thing, but many questioned the appropriateness of the county becoming a business owner of wind energy rather than a facilitator for its county residents to do so.

Larry Greden told county commissioners that he has been developing a manure digester project for four years as an alternative form of renewable energy and has a $1 million grant that stands to go to waste if the county develops its project. The reason, he said, is because the two turbines proposed by the county will max out the power feeder line serving that area, preventing any farmers in the vicinity from developing renewable energy projects of their own.

Greden also owns a turbine, but said it has not been the financial boon he thought it would be and he questioned the county's projected numbers for generating revenue.

Many took issue with the secretive nature of the agreement with Exel, which locks in the price the county will get for energy it generates for the next 20 years.

Commissioner Dwayne Voegeli said it is a requirement of Exel that the county not reveal the price negotiated, but farmers said rough math using projected revenue suggests the number is close to five or six cents per kilowatt, a figure they called paltry. "Five cents for 20 years, I think that's a good deal for the power company, but I think the county can do better than that."

Comparatively, functioning turbines in the county are getting between nine and 11 cents per kilowatt, Ross Greden said, but the county is depriving them of the right to develop any future turbines by competing for the power lines with them.

Many also questioned the financing of the project, and wondering aloud why the county was expending so much effort for such a low return and whether financiers would truly come forth as county officials have promised.

"If large turbine projects are going to be that lucrative then why aren't private investors here already and why are investors leaving Wiscoy Township?" Ross Greden asked.

Investors are looking for tax shelters and often have a political position favoring renewable energy, County Administrator Duane Herbert said.

The county will create a limited liability corporation in which it will partner with investors to fund the $3.5 million project. Investors will reap 99% of the revenue for the first 10 years, and then give over their interest in the project to the county for the next ten years.

The reason the arrangement works for investors, Herbert said, is that the first ten years are when the tax benefits of such a project can be collected.

Commissioner Marsha Ward has been a longtime critic of the project, questioning the appropriateness of spending county dollars so corporations can have a tax shelter.

Dwayne Voegeli, the project's champion on the county board, bristled at Ward's comments and said the project makes good revenue for the county as well.

In fact, the financial figures for the wind turbine project have been a moving target since the county failed in an attempt to develop wind energy in 2005, a misstep that cost taxpayers $50,500.

Officials said the new proposal is a winner and only carries a risk of $68,000 to the county. In all the county has spent $140,500 to date on the project, but says the LLC partners will reimburse $72,000 of consultant fees to the county if the project moves forward.

But those figures do not take into account the salary of Linda Grover, the county's Economic Development Authority director, who has spent the lion's share of her time during the last four years working on the wind turbine project. At a salary of $75,000 per year, critics say a significant portion of her salary should rightfully appear as part of the true cost of developing a project that continues to raise cash flow questions from residents.

The LLC will reimburse the county for $27,100 annually in managerial fees throughout the life of the project, with Grover representing the county in her role with the LLC.

If the turbines produce five million kilowatt hours per year for 20 years, officials are estimating the project could net a return to the county of between $800,000 and $1.2 million. That figure is down from the $1.5 million that county officials first speculated.

The turbines come with a two-year warranty, and $100,000 will be set aside each year for their maintenance.

Skeptics wanted to know why the county can't find a better way to raise $40,000 per year on average, calling the amount a small drop in the county's $40 million budget.

Wind energy is good, everyone agreed, but critics of the project said they believed the county's role was to help its residents with economic development and clean renewable energy.

There is precedent for government developing resources for residents, Herbert said, ranging from the government's development of power companies to the railroad system across the country.