ELLENSBURG — Representatives from enXco hope their reconfigured Desert Claim Wind Farm, planned for 5,200 acres about 8 miles northwest of Ellensburg will get the go-ahead from the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC).

Desert Claim Project Director David Steeb said enXco would submit its revised application for the $330 million, 95-turbine wind farm to EFSEC on Friday.

The project, if approved, would provide 190 megawatts of power, enough for 57,000 homes.

Steeb is optimistic enXco could receive EFSEC approval by late summer or early fall and begin construction on the wind farm in early 2010.

An enXco-commissioned study by a group of Central Washington University professors estimates the wind farm could generate $3.6 million in workers’ payroll during construction and $970,000 annually once it’s in operation.

The same study estimated property tax revenues at more than $900,000 per year.

Steeb said the reconfigured layout offers a “triple benefit” for the county and the state. With five more turbines than the original layout, it would produce 10 more megawatts of power. The new layout also lessens the impact on non-participating residences. Seven non-participating residences are within 2,500 feet of a turbine in the new layout compared to 29 previously. And the final benefit would be to the economy.

“Probably the most germane piece about this project and its timing is what it means to this county and the state in terms of an infusion of jobs, income and taxes,” Steeb said. “If this permitting moves forward and we’re able to meet the timing that I believe is possible, this is a project that would start construction early next year.”

The CWU study on the Desert Claim Wind Farm estimates it would generate nearly $340,000 annually in taxes for the Ellensburg School District, and Steeb noted this project is the only one of the four (built or in the planning stages) in the county that falls within the Ellensburg School District’s tax boundaries.

Newly elected Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell said he is interested to see how enXco mitigated its impacts on neighboring residential properties.

“I am supportive of wind farms — but obviously siting is an issue,” he said. “(The turbines) can have a major impact.  We really do need to consider those impacts to individual property owners as well as our overall landscape and lifestyle, and look for a longer term solution with benefits for all county residents.”

Jewell also cautioned against looking at the potential tax dollars as “found money.” He said the taxes would help lessen the individual assessments of property owners in the taxing district, but that they would not be added on top of the existing tax base except for the first year when they are assessed as new construction.

“We’re always interested in projects that will bring new jobs and increased economic activity, both short-term and long-term,” he said. “This proposed project certainly does that. It is encouraging to see investment of this level being proposed in our county.”

Ellensburg Schools Superintendent Paul Farris noted that the Ellensburg School Board passed a resolution supporting the wind farm.

If the CWU study number on Desert Claim’s tax impact hold true, the school district would receive up to $340,000 in the first year and after that the tax money would be absorbed into the district’s tax base lessening the burden of fellow taxpayers.

Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Rich Elliott said according to the Desert Claim study’s numbers, the $210,000 in tax monies per year the department could receive would be “absolutely a good thing.”

“It comes on as new construction and (after that) lowers everyone else’s levy rate, so it gives us space work within our budget,” Elliott said.