Co-op nearly ready to make use of the wind

December 19, 2008

By Deborah Gertz Husar

CAMP POINT, Ill. -- Adams Electric Cooperative hopes to have its first wind turbine in operation by May and a second online by the end of 2009.

"Right now we have a turbine ordered for both locations. We have both sites surveyed," General Manager Jim Thompson said. "We're going in the right direction."

The turbines will be adjacent to the co-op's substations, one in Adams County on the Plainville Blacktop, about six miles south of Baldwin Field, and one in Brown County between Mount Sterling and Ripley, visible from U.S. 24.

Thompson said the co-op plans to use a combination of grant and loan funds to cover the cost estimated at about $2 million per site.

Federal and co-op officials gathered last week at the Brown County site for the formal presentation of a $450,000 grant toward the project.

The grant, announced in August, was awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development's renewable energy and energy efficiency program. The program provides assistance to agricultural producers, cooperatives and rural small businesses to support renewable energy projects including biomass, geothermal, hydrogen, solar and wind energy.

"Our energy grant and loan program is designed to provide environmental and economic benefits," Illinois Director for Rural Development Doug Wilson said in a news release. "Homeowners, small businesses, ag producers and the local economy benefit when we take advantage of renewable energy sources readily available in Illinois."

The co-op will seek authority to issue clean renewable energy bonds, basically a low-interest loan, to cover the rest of the cost in Brown County.

Two other grants -- $150,000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Communities Foundation and $250,000 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity -- and just more than $1.5 million authorized in renewable energy bonds will cover the Adams County cost.

The cooperative serves 8,400 members and maintains more than 2,190 miles of electric line in rural Adams, Brown and Schuyler counties, plus parts of Pike, Hancock, McDonough and Fulton counties.

Advances in technology have made the use of wind power a feasible choice for power generation in central Illinois. The state as a whole is ranked 16th nationally in wind energy generation potential.

Capitalizing on the area's wind energy potential "is going to be a good thing for our membership and West-Central Illinois. We've got good wind resources here," Thompson said.

"This project illustrates Adams Electric Cooperative's commitment of bringing clean renewable energy to our area. Wind is one of the best renewable energy sources because it produces no pollution, no combustion and no byproduct that would harm the environment."