GIBSON CITY - Officials with a Houston-based wind-energy company have applied for a special-use permit to make way for the first phase of a massive wind farm spanning from Gibson City to Sibley to near Elliott.

The Ford Ridge Wind Farm is targeted for construction late next year or in early 2011, said Roger Brown, business developer for BP Wind Energy North America Inc.

The company, which is developing the project, expects the first phase of the wind farm to be the focus of a public hearing in front of the Ford County Zoning Board of Appeals in November, Brown said. The county board would then need to approve or deny the project.

"Procedurally, this is kind of our next step to get this taken care of," Brown said.

A special-use permit application was submitted for the first phase of the project last week, and the company paid a fee of $100 per wind turbine as part of the application, said Ford County Zoning Officer Larry Knilands. With 67 turbines planned for phase one, the county received a check for $6,700, Knilands said.

According to the special-use application, the first phase would be located around Sibley and Gibson City. Sibley would be surrounded by turbines to the south and east. The southern-most turbine would be at County Road 800 North, about 2 miles directly north of Gibson City; the northern-most turbine would be about half a mile from the Livingston County line. The first phase would span from east to west about 6 miles, starting at County Road 200 East and ending at County Road 800 East.

With a total nameplate capacity of about 100 megawatts, the first phase is larger than Brown had estimated last winter, when he said it would feature between 25 and 45 turbines with a total capacity of 65 megawatts.

Phase II will essentially be an extension of the first phase of the wind farm, Brown said, noting it could be on both sides of the first phase.

"We're definitely looking at both directions," Brown said.

Brown had said last winter that the second phase would likely total about 100 megawatts and would be "an extension to the west and southwest of Phase I."

The third and final phase would be located along a roughly 7-mile stretch of land south of Illinois 9, between Gibson City and Paxton. Brown said last winter he had been talking with landowners south of Elliott.

Although Brown could not estimate the number of turbines in the third phase yet, he said it would be "fairly small."

The number of turbines in the second and third phases are not finalized. Brown said the number would be determined by the amount of electricity each generates; the company is planning turbines ranging from 1.5 megawatts up to 2.5 megawatts.

The project would be exclusively in Ford County, said Brown last winter.

The project was originally proposed by Orion Energy but was taken over by BP after the project by Orion stalled.

BP has completed or is in the process of building wind farms in Colorado, Kansas, Texas and Indiana. BP was currently building the first phase of a 400-megawatt project in Fowler, Ind.

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Besides BP Wind Energy's project near Sibley and Gibson City, there are at least four other wind farms planned for Ford County. One of the other companies has already had its special-use permit approved by the county board, and construction is expected to begin soon.

Vision Energy, based in Cincinnati, plans to build 97 turbines in Rogers Township in northern Ford County as part of a wind farm that would encompass parts of four counties and include 300-plus wind turbines. Turner Hunt, president of Vision Energy, said recently that he expects the project to begin in early 2010, with Ford County's portion being completed in late 2010 or early 2011.

Meanwhile, Stewardship Energy, based in Bureau County in Illinois, plans to build a 150-megawatt wind farm east of Paxton in Button Township. Matt Kaufmann, president of the company, said Tuesday that he has secured a financial partner for the project and he expects to begin the permitting process with the county late this year or early next year.

Also planning a similar project in that area is E.On Climate & Renewables, a Germany-based company with offices in Chicago. Joe Borkowski, development manager for E.On, said earlier this year that the planned 150-megawatt project east of Paxton is expected to be built in spring 2011, after the company completes a project near Sheldon. Both the Sheldon and Paxton projects are expected to feature between 65 and 100 turbines.

The fourth wind farm that has been proposed in Ford County would be a 200-megawatt expansion of a large wind farm located just west of the Ford-McLean County border. Horizon Wind Energy plans to expand the McLean County wind farm into Ford County under its initial plans. Bill Whitlock, senior project development manager for Horizon, said earlier this year that the Twin Groves Wind Farm, which already features 240 turbines, would be expanded to encompass two townships in Ford County and be located north and west of Gibson City, Whitlock said.

Horizon is tentatively planning to seek a special-use permit from the Ford County Board in 2011, with construction to occur later that year or the next.

If the Twin Groves Wind Farm in eastern McLean County can serve as an example, Ford County has plenty of reason to be excited about the developments.

The Twin Groves project supports the local economy through royalties to 140 landowners whose land spans over 22,000 acres, according to Horizon Energy. During construction, 350 jobs were created, and presently 37 full-time employees support current operations. Twin Groves also is bringing substantial tax revenues to the county and local schools. The wind farm is expected to supply the Ridgeview School District with an extra $1.55 million in property tax revenue annually.

Ford County can expect to receive about $3.2 million per year in new property tax revenue from two wind farms proposed for Paxton's east side, according to officials with the wind-energy companies planning the projects.

The PBL School District would get the bulk of that money.