Benton County, Indiana, Successfully Sites Wind Energy, Protects Rural Roads from Damage

Project Summary

With the most wind farms in the state of Indiana, Benton County has refined wind farm requirements by clearly articulating road preparation and repair expectations in road use agreements. Before the County implemented a road-use protection agreement process, the transportation of heavy wind farm infrastructure caused preventable damage to rural county roads. These issues are less likely and road repairs are easier now that Benton County has revamped the contracts it uses with wind power companies.

Background

Wind farms provide clean, renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Additionally, tax revenue opportunities presented by local wind farms can benefit residents of rural counties.

The first wind energy company visited Benton County in 2006 to meet with farm landowners and city officials. During this visit, landowners realized they could increase profits by leasing their land to wind power companies in addition to farming. By 2010, three wind farms had begun operating in Benton County, comprising 495 turbines in all. During the first two installations, the County learned that roads leading to wind farm projects needed to be reinforced in advance to prevent heavy equipment from damaging asphalt and gravel roads.

When the County received an application for the Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge project—a 65-turbine addition to an existing wind farm, Wind Farm Fowler Ridge—County officials worked with the energy company to identify processes to reduce roadway wear and tear. Benton County used traffic rate information and road conditions to lessen traffic disruption and required Pattern Energy Group, the project investor, to complete road stabilization projects before the wind project construction began.

The Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge extension is owned by Fowler Ridge IV Wind Farm, LLC, which is an entity created by Pattern Energy Group, the project’s investor. Siemens Energy manufactured all 65 turbines, generating 150 megawatts of energy, or enough to power approximately 46,000 homes.

In 2014, Pattern Energy Group notified the landowners and county commissioners of their intentions to erect additional wind turbines in Benton County. Through a private agreement, Pattern Energy leased property from the landowners for approximately 20 years. The project’s lawyers, in collaboration with the County attorney, developed special exemptions. The special exemptions included four separate agreements: an Agreement for Economic Development, a Transportation, Road Use and Road Agreement, a Decommission Agreement and a Drainage Agreement. These agreements were signed by the County Commissioners and project owner Fowler Ridge IV Wind Farm, LLC and were approved by the County Commissioners. Once these documents were signed, the project owner was permitted to transport wind farm infrastructure within the County. Pattern Energy was required to pay for all road preparation and repairs before and during wind farm construction as a condition of their Road Use Agreement filed through the Board of Zoning Appeals and Advisory Plan Commission. If the wind energy company used a road, that road was considered to be subject to the terms of the Agreement. Once wind farm construction was complete, the County became responsible for the roads once again. Once construction ceased, any required road repairs resulting from the wind farm construction was paid for by the wind energy company through a separate fund. The details of this fund were outlined in the Road Use Agreement.

Additionally, once the Board of Zoning Appeals approved the special exemptions, the project owner requested tax abatements from the Benton County Council. Without a tax abatement, the wind farm would not be profitable because the project owner would be required to pay an annual property tax on its wind turbines, an assessed value of approximately $150 million for the 65 turbines included in the Amazon project, or $2.3 million per turbine.

The Transportation, Road Use and Road Agreement required the project owner to:

• Hire a contractor to coordinate traffic and communicate with local officials to resolve problems as they arise.
• Reinforce the roads before transporting any infrastructure to the wind farm.
• Hire a videographer to document preexisting and post-project road conditions, and reconstruct the affected roads once the project is complete.

The Transportation, Road Use and Road Agreement also stipulated that, when the wind turbines are commissioned, the Benton County Highway Department will repair gravel roads and repave paved roads as needed.

Preparing Roads for the Transportation of Wind Turbine Infrastructure

Road reinforcement is completed through cement stabilization — the process of adding calcium to gravel roads similar to laying down cement — to a depth of 12 inches. Three inches of stone is then placed on top. County roads that are already paved have to be stabilized by grinding the roads down to gravel, then completing cement stabilization. Without stabilizing the roads in advance, the roads would compact from the heavy loads, causing the roads to be more costly and more difficult to repair in the future.

Funding

Pattern Energy Group was the sole funder of the Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge project.

Timeline

From the time they began talking to the landowners to the time that the field was in production spanned one year and six months. Road preparation took three to five weeks. Wind farm construction spanned two to three months.