The Spanish company Iberdrola Renewables is expected to begin developing the 155-turbine Streator Cayuga Ridge South Wind Farm this fall. The electricity-producing towers would be scattered across 15,000 acres, primarily between Odell and Emington. The Livingston County Board approved the project in July. Construction and maintenance of the project will use 6.25 miles of county roads and 41 miles of township roads, so road use agreements were needed.

Walnut Ridge wind farm developers are one step closer to securing their construction site. On Tuesday, the Bureau County Board approved conditional use permits for 143 turbines, four meteorological towers and three substations for the wind farm, which developers hope to begin constructing in the spring.

Interest in Illinois as a source of wind-generated electricity has grown in recent years and is likely to grow further, even in parts of the state initially thought to be unsuitable for wind farms, a panelist said Wednesday at a forum held to discuss the issue. "We're receiving inquiries from Mason County, Monroe County and other counties we did not think would be indicated based on the wind map," said Jerry Quick, attorney for the Illinois Agricultural Association.

The Rail Splitter Wind Farm is expected to cover 11,000 acres in Logan and Tazewell counties. Nearly 70 wind turbines are planned, or enough to supply approximately 30,000 homes, according to developer Horizon Wind Energy. Work would begin in Tazewell County, despite recent objections by State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz, who threatened legal action if the project was included in the county's enterprise zone. Umholtz recently told the Tazewell County Board the project's inclusion wasn't a proper use for enterprise zones.

The request was submitted by Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC., which has constructed 66 wind turbines in the Grand Ridge Wind Farm project south of Marseilles, Seneca and Ottawa, and plans to place 200 more turbines in the area. The approximately 17.5-acre E-Zone extends from south of Ottawa to Marseilles and Seneca in La Salle County, and east through Grundy County to Morris.

The districts, Keeneyville Elementary District 20 in Hanover Park and Community Unit District 300 in Carpentersville, started to explore wind turbines that can harness wind power and convert it into electricity. But both districts soon found their promising idea stymied by restrictive state and local laws. The districts then hit upon another solution: wind farms, clusters of turbines that can generate enough electricity to power several buildings, or even multiple local governments. ...An Illinois House bill could potentially fix these issues and provide the legal framework for school districts and municipalities throughout the suburbs to start benefiting from wind power produced on a large scale.

The Woodford County Board granted a special-use permit for a wind farm outside El Paso on Tuesday, but in doing so may have threatened the very project it approved. Board members approved a stipulation to the permit requiring Navitas Energy, the Minneapolis-based company that has proposed the 40-turbine installation, to remove six turbines within a 1.5 mile radius of El Paso's municipal limits. Wanda Davies, director of development for Navitas, said that move will force the company to re-evaluate the entire El Paso wind farm project.

The effort will begin in Tazewell County, despite recent objections by State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz who threatened legal action if the project was included in the county's enterprise zone. Umholtz recently told the Tazewell County Board the project's inclusion wasn't a proper use for enterprise zones The appeal period for Tazewell County has expired, though, meaning Horizon has cleared the legal hurdles of receiving the conditional use permit.

The Woodford County Board granted a special-use permit for a wind farm outside El Paso on Tuesday, but in doing so may have threatened the very project it approved. Board members approved a stipulation to the permit requiring Navitas Energy, the Minneapolis-based company that has proposed the 40-turbine installation, to remove six turbines within a 1.5 mile radius of El Paso's municipal limits. Wanda Davies, director of development for Navitas, said that move will force the company to re-evaluate the entire El Paso wind farm project.

After more than six months of debate, Woodford County has officially given the green light to a wind farm in El Paso. The vote was ten to three in favor of the project, with one Woodford County Board Member abstaining. ...Some residents argue Tuesday's decision may be invalid because a previous zoning board meeting allegedly violated the open meetings act.

The lack of an agreement has been a sticking point with the Woodford County Board in approving a special use agreement for the 3,000-acre wind farm A stipulation from the Zoning Board of Appeals more than a year ago required an agreement between the company and road commissioners from Greene, El Paso and Palestine townships. Paul Lewis of Peoria, Navitas' local attorney, confirmed the agreements were reached Monday afternoon.

Unit 5 Superintendent Gary Niehaus has been getting a lot of questions about the potential of adding wind turbines to the district's energy plans. The board has applied for a grant to pay for a feasibility study that would take about a year. A turbine could be constructed in about three years

A road agreement needed for the development of a Livingston County wind farm is nearly complete, but some details still need to be worked out, the County Board heard Thursday. "The technical aspects are really in the final form," Livingston County Highway Engineer David Winters said. "We are quite satisfied with this agreement as far as county road use." Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish company, wants to erect 155 electricity-generating turbines on sites scattered across 15,000 acres between Saunemin and Odell. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

On Thursday, the Livingston County Board learned more details of the technical aspects of the road agreement between the county and Iberdrola Renewables involving wind turbines to be erected between Saunemin and Odell. The road agreement is the first step in the company erecting 155 turbines. Work is expected to begin this fall. The board approved a special-use permit for the wind farm in July on the condition that Iberdrola and the county reach an agreement within 45 days - or by Sept. 2 - on the road work to be done as part of the turbine construction process.

A new state law specifies that units of government, such as a county, a municipality or a school district, may own and operate a wind farm. Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed House Bill 4646 into law on Tuesday. It takes effect immediately. Under the measure, the governmental units can opt for individual or joint ownership of a wind farm.

A proposed wind tower farm could bring additional tax revenue and jobs to Iroquois County. The Iroquois County Board learned Tuesday that Vision Energy has proposed building a 300-tower wind farm in the counties of Iroquois, Ford, Livingston and Kankakee -- with 45 to 50 towers to potentially be built in Milks Grove Township in Iroquois County's northwest corner, between Chebanse and Herscher. ...The company intends to call the project K4 Wind Farm with construction projected to start in the fourth quarter of 2009.

An agreement has been reached between Kurt and Ronda Geldean and the developers of the Walnut Ridge wind farm. ...The agreement calls for the Geldeans to withdrawal their complaint against the turbines and for Midwest Wind Energy to withdraw plans for the five turbines closest to the Geldeans' airstrip.

At Tuesday's meeting in the Bureau County Courthouse in Princeton, the county board voted unanimously to delay action on the requested conditional use permits for Walnut Ridge until a formal roads agreement is finalized. Bureau County Engineer John Gross said a roads agreement between Walnut Ridge developers Midwest Wind Energy, the county and the townships is close to being finalized. However, until that agreement is formally reached and written, he could not recommend going ahead and approving the conditional use permits.

The Fulton County Board helped pave the way for possible wind energy production in the county by approving ordinances regulating small and large wind energy conversion systems. During public remarks, Dean Wright of Meister Electric of Peoria, addressed the board asking them to work on encouraging rather than restricting wind energy system building. He asked the board to slow down and offered to help board members study the issue further. Wright had already submitted a letter to Fulton County Board Chairman Ed Ketcham about problems concerning the proposed ordinances concerning small wind energy systems.

The next time you take a drive through the country, take Interstate 55 south about 140 miles, merge onto Interstate 74 and follow it east about 10 miles. Look around you. You probably won't see much, but this undeveloped plot of land could soon house machinery that would generate enough electricity to power three school districts. Two suburban school districts - Community Unit District 300 and Keeneyville Elementary District 20 - are looking to partner with a third district downstate - Tri-Valley School District 3 - to build a wind farm in Downs - about 10 miles southeast of Bloomington.