By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Across the corn and soybean fields of southeastern Wood County, farmers are mulling over leasing their acreage for a proposed wind farm.
Being pitched as a life raft that can provide “passive income” for farmers struggling to stay afloat, the wind farm proposal is being met with varied responses from landowners. Many, having owned the acreage in the families for generations, are suspicious of losing productive farmland now and for future generations, with no certainty how the land will be restored once the wind turbines stop spinning.
Jim Carter, a Bloom Township trustee, has been approached to lease some of his farm land for the project.
“I’ve been contacted numerous times about my interest in doing that,” Carter said, as he took a break from replanting a field of soybeans earlier this month. But he has no plan to sign on the dotted line. “I’m more concerned about when the companies are defunct, and who’s going to restore the land.”
Carter said he has been told by a right-of-way agent for the wind project that nearly 3,000 acres have already been signed up. But Carter has his doubts, and wonders if that is being used to pressure other farmers to lease their land.
“I’m pretty skeptical,” he said.
Another farmer reached out, believing local residents should be aware of the project, before the turbines start appearing on the horizon.
“We have been contacted and finally listened to their sales pitch. I have seen their map,” said the farmer who asked to not be identified.
The map reportedly showed the proposed wind farm spreading over 35,140 acres, in an “L” shape starting at the southeast corner of the county, north to Oil Center Road, west to Huffman Road, north to Mermill Road, and west roughly to Interstate 75, then back south to the county line.
The proposed 150MW wind farm, called the Eleazer Wind Project is being developed by RWE Clean Energy, which has developed many wind power sites, including the 250MW Scioto Ridge Wind Farm constructed in Ohio’s Hardin and Logan counties.
Ryan Bettis, contracted by Percheron LLC for the RWE Clean Energy wind project, is going from farm to farm, gauging interest in leasing land for turbines, buried cables and transmission lines to Fostoria.
“There’s quite a bit of interest in the area,” Bettis said, explaining that RWE is looking for at least 10,000 acres for the proposed Eleazer Wind Project.
“This area has become a renewable energy hub,” Bettis said.
The leases last 30 years, Bettis said. The turbines would be of similar size to those in the Findlay area, measuring an estimated 600-feet tall from the top of a blade to the base, he said.
Each wind turbine would require approximately one acre of land and have a “relatively small footprint,” Bettis said. When the wind farm has outlived its usefulness, RWE will deconstruct the turbines and return the ground to agricultural use, he added.
Bettis is familiar with “traditional farmers” who view the placement of wind turbines as “ruining the family farm.” But the way he sees it, farmers struggling to make ends meet can benefit from the “passive income” of leasing their land. He estimated landowners would earn $20,000 to $25,000 a year per turbine.
“They can give up one acre, and can continue farming,” Bettis said.
A representative of RWE Clean Energy, said the Wood County proposal is relatively new.
“It’s in the early stages, but wind farms typically range between five to seven years from early stage to operations, though there’s many variables that can impact the timeline,” said Kellie Woods, senior manager of external communications for RWE Clean Energy.
“RWE chose this site for a few reasons including the power demand in Ohio, close transmission lines and interested participating landowners who often see wind farms as a way to diversify their income while preserving the land,” Woods said.
“RWE believes in being good community partners throughout the entire process and is looking forward to working with the Wood County community,” Woods added.
But now all farmers are sold on that statement.
Terry Hummel, a Bloom Township trustee who has been approached about leasing his land, has no desire to have big cement footers and tall towers on his land. He’s yet to hear a satisfactory explanation about how the turbines are removed at the end of their life span.
“Are they just going to leave them?” Hummel said, adding he has no intention of passing down his farmland to his next generation with turbines jutting up in the fields. “There’s nothing for certain. There are too many unknowns.”
Some farmers are suspicious of the sales pitch. They remember the promises made nearly 10 years ago by the Rover natural gas pipeline that sliced through their farms. Those promises of tax revenues for the communities have yet to be delivered.
“I really wasn’t interested (in the wind farm) after the natural gas pipeline,” Hummel said. “Every year, they go to court, fighting that they are charged too much in taxes.”
