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Work on central Indiana wind farm set for this summer

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A company planning to build a wind farm spread across four central Indiana counties says it has obtained 125 building permits for the project's first phase.

E-on Climate & Renewables, a European company with U.S. offices based in Chicago, said 69 of those permits are in Tipton County and 56 in Madison County.

Company spokesman Matt Tullis told the Kokomo Tribune that it expects delivery of its first electricity-producing turbines in July and will then start building towers in Madison County.

The company says the Wildcat Wind Farm project's first phase will cost up to $400 million to build.

E-on said it expects to employ 200 and 300 workers during construction and about 12 permanent workers for maintenance work on the turbines.

Phase One is expected to generate about 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 60,000 homes. The utility said the project will be connected to American Electric Power's transmission system, which will deliver the power to customers in Indiana and Michigan.

In May 2011, E-on reached a 20-year agreement with Fort Wayne-based utility Indiana Michigan Power to sell the utility power from the proposed farm.

Future phases of the project are planned in neighboring Howard and Grant counties in the area about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. A company spokesman said future expansion would hinge on federal tax credits.

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  • Eyes of the Beholder
    Mike,

    I think the windmills on 65 North are beautiful. They add interest to an otherwise pretty boring drive.
    • Eyesore
      What an eyesore up north. Drove up 65 a few months ago and it was creepy. Ruined beautul land to save
      A few dollars. At least use an energy source that doesnt pollute the beatiful landscape. What a bunch of idiots!!!
      • too high
        Our demand for energy is just too high. I remember going to school and sweating until at least the end of september.
        All the schools are climate controled without windows that open. just think of the overhead that has been raised just to accomadate us. we just need to stop being such a spoiled society.
      • Follow The Money
        Where'd the 400 million come from? Taxpayers? Where will the revenue go? E-on Climate & Renewables, a European company ...
      • Plenty of Wind
        As a civilian pilot, I have been flying over Indiana for years. There's plenty of wind. Surface winds may seem lighter because there are more objects to block or divert it, but aloft it's fairly steady.
      • Check Again
        Check again, Neal.
      • Oh right...
        Oh Neal...what would they do without you? You're right. I'm sure they didn't check average wind speeds or anything before they decided to put a 400 million dollar wind farm there...Especially one that's so close to another gigantic wind farm that's doing just fine.
      • Prediction: Failure
        Last I checked, central Indiana does not have an average wind speed great enough to make wind turbines cost effective.

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        2. Temporary workers are not "tools" they are people and companies that keep large amounts of temp staff are cheating.

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