Senate Bill 2612 will renew the process by which wind energy devices are assessed for property taxes. The bill extends the law that was scheduled to sunset Dec. 31 for 5 years. Demmer said the bill is important for the wind industry and local taxing bodies. 

Taxes & Subsidies Illinois

Upgrades to the roads are required before work can be done on the turbines, according to the agreement. Among the work that needs to be done on the roads: strengthening them to allow for heavy loads, widening of lane corners for trucks and installation of of cabling and utility boxes.

General Illinois

Currently, its setback distance for wind turbines is at least 1,200 feet from homes. La Salle County's is the same. In Livingston County, officials are considering raising the setback to 1,600 feet. Some in the county's southern part are looking to increase it to 4,000. At nearly a mile, such a distance might effectively shut out wind farm development.

Zoning/Planning Illinois

The plan has already been unanimously approved by the county’s finance and transportation committee. Potential road work is expected to be done despite a standing lawsuit against the county by residents who live near the proposed wind farm location. 

General Illinois

For Springfield aldermen opposed to the 10-year-old Sierra Club deal that required the city to buy power from two wind farms, December 2018 can’t come fast enough. By then, both contracts will have expired, at which point City Water, Light and Power estimates it will have spent up to $150 million. So far, the utility has spent about $101 million. ...“There’s definitely a lesson for the future,” he said. “We have to be very, very careful when this contract comes back up. I don’t know how I could vote for it in most any form.”

Impact on Economy Energy Policy Illinois

But Robert Porter, a Rockford-based attorney representing the plaintiffs, repeated much of the initial criticism of the county, saying that notifications were not received before the legally required 15 days, while others say they received a notice with the wrong date of the meeting. Other plaintiffs claim they did not receive any notice at all of the hearing.

General Illinois

The path for the energy legislation is “straight uphill,” Harmon said, especially for issues such as a low carbon portfolio standard or rate redesign, which have the “real or political potential for raising rates on consumers.” In a state in the midst of a budget crisis that would be a tough sell. 

Energy Policy Illinois

A wind turbine at Lakeland College might have too many issues to keep it up and running. The school's president says fixing one of their wind turbines wouldn't be worth it. Monday night, he'll be making his case to the board. 

Safety Illinois

Bullock said the southernmost wind turbine of Lake Land's two 160-foot-tall, 100-kilowatt turbines was damaged by a lightning strike last summer and has not functioned properly since then. He said the administration does not believe that making the nearly $100,000 in repairs estimated for the turbine would be cost effective.

Safety Illinois

The bill passed on a 63 to 33 vote. Representative Vicki Lensing of Iowa City was among the Democrats who joined with Republicans to pass the bill. “I support jobs. I support economic development, but this is a private company coming in, wanting exceptions at the expense of private land owners.” 

Transmission Illinois Iowa

In an attempt to push the company into action, the committee hired an independent firm, Patrick Engineering, in November 2015 to do a cost study and write a decommissioning plan. The action is allowed under the special use permit with Minonk LLC paying the cost of the study. A copy of the report, which indicated the security deposit should be $15,135,851, was sent to Minonk Wind Farm LLC, which did not respond.

Zoning/Planning Illinois

The co-developer of a wind farm planned for northern Ford County and southern Kankakee County said that an escrow agreement approved by the Ford County Board last week calls for the developers to provide several million dollars in financial security to Ford County to cover repairs and improvements to public roads used to build the wind farm.

General Illinois

​"As a matter of physics, unless a customer's residence is directly connected to a wind farm or solar panels," electricity suppliers "cannot truthfully claim that they are providing electricity generated from renewable resources," the attorney general's office is quoted as saying in the administrative law judges' proposed order in January.

Energy Policy Illinois

It seems like we haven't learned much of anything as we continue to interfere in various energy markets. ...First, solar and wind power benefit from a production tax credit, which is simply a subsidy based on the amount of electricity produced. Coupled with various state laws that effectively force grid operators to purchase electricity from solar and wind generation whether or not it is needed, greenhouse gases may actually increase.

Energy Policy Illinois

A local law that would allow Somerset to opt-out of a provision in state real property tax law that allows energy projects to be exempt from property taxes will be presented and discussed in a meeting Wednesday.

Taxes & Subsidies Illinois

A wind energy conversion turbine caught fire Friday afternoon, causing responses from both Saunemin and Pontiac fire departments. ...It is, however, a little ironic that the source of power the turbines were trying to capture may have also caused or exacerbated the fire at the turbine.

Safety Structural Failure Illinois

Work slowed in July 2013, when a lawsuit was filed by 60 residents against Lee County and the previous owner, Mainstream. The court challenges cited nonconforming land-use issues, the turbines' effect on property values, and concerns about noise and shadow flicker. The delays have led to the expiration of special-use permits granted by the counties. The permits expired Aug. 26, 2015, in Whiteside County, and they are set to expire in mid-May in Lee County.

General Illinois

A wind turbine in northern Livingston County caught fire Friday. ...Streator Cayuga Ridge began operating in March 2010.

Safety Structural Failure Illinois

County Board OKs project with 12 stipulations/conditions

Zoning/Planning Illinois

Despite a recommendation of denial of all 127 conditional use permits by the Bureau County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) last month, the county board approved all but nine permits on Tuesday.

Zoning/Planning Illinois