WIND BRINGS BENEFITS TO OREGON

Wind blows money into pockets of Sherman County residents
Richard Cockle, November 12, 2011 (Oregon Live)

"Every household in windswept Sherman County will soon get a Christmas gift in the mail: a $590 check…This is the third consecutive year that checks will go out for the people's share of annual wind-energy revenues…[T]he $416,540 cash outlay may be unprecedented in the United States…The checks are loosely modeled after dividend payments to Alaskans for oil gurgling through the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. The county also gives its four tiny towns -- Wasco, Moro, Rufus and Grass Valley -- annual checks of $100,000 each.

"Roughly 550 wind turbines rearing 300-plus feet into the breezy high desert sky have brought dramatic changes here. Twelve wind farms are now on line, producing 1,000 megawatts of alternative energy -- enough to power 100,000 homes -- and providing the county government with $9 million annual revenues…Under the county's agreement with the wind companies, the payments will continue until 2025…"

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"…[C]ounty leaders figured regular folks deserved a cut of the windfall for having to look at the gigantic structures -- not just the 35 or so landowners who reap payments from the companies for allowing wind turbines on their wheat farms. The property owners receive an average of $6,000 a year per wind turbine -- and some have up to 30 on their wheat farms…

"…Wind revenues have made some significant capital projects possible, including a new $2 million library...[and] $1 million more went for a building to be completed next month in Moro to house the Oregon State University Cooperative Extension Service, 4-H, planning and wheat district offices. The county installed high-speed Internet access two weeks ago available to the public for a fee. The sheriff's office has expanded from four to five deputies…"