Wind farm eyed: Company begins study on family-owned property

Nov 16, 2008 (The Centre Daily Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- EONGY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- UNION TOWNSHIP -- Wind blew across a large stretch of forested land Friday, feeding data into a tower on family-owned property that could become home to the first wind farm in Centre County.

The meteorological tower -- met tower, for short -- is about 200 feet tall and belongs to E.ON Climate and Renewables. The company will use the data gathered by the anemometers spinning on that tower and another one to study the wind speed in the area and help decide if it would be a good site for a wind farm.

Susan Benedict, who holds the 1,760-acre property that crosses over to Snow Shoe Township in trust with her two brothers, said the family began looking into leasing the land for a wind farm about two years ago.

"It's either going to be the best thing we do, or the worst thing," said Benedict, who lives in State College. "Time will tell, but I'm hoping it's the best thing."

The agreement her family has with E.ON is for a 29-year lease if the project does get built. The turbines would be several hundred feet tall and cost an estimated $2 million each to build.

"You can have a lot of reservations because it's going to change the face of the property," said Benedict's brother Mike Shoemaker, of Coburn. "But in the long run, it's going to be beneficial."

The Shoemaker property, known as Beartown, is the largest piece of land E.ON is looking at leasing if it does end up building the wind farm. Development manager Scott Pinkham said the project would be a few thousand acres and include land leased from about 10 property owners.

Pinkham said the met towers will help the company decide if there is enough wind at the site, which is northwest of State Game Lands 103. Data collection can take a year to two years. If all goes well, E.ON would like to have the wind farm built in two to three years.

There could be between 30 and 50 windmills that are 15 feet wide at the base and spread out on the leased land. Each turbine could provide enough energy for 600 or more homes.

Pinkham said the property is surrounded by nothing but state game land and forest and is not in a very populated area. He said that is one of the reasons it was chosen, and the company will work to minimize the impact on the area. E.ON would also have to go through various state and local agencies and have studies done, such as inventories of bats or rattlesnakes.

The Chicago company is a division of E.ON North America, which is part of Germany-based E.ON.

Another company, Gamesa Energy USA, has been working on developing a wind farm primarily in Snyder Township, Blair County, with part of the project in Taylor Township in Centre County. Some have supported that project, but it also has faced opposition. In particular, opponents have argued that the project would fragment the forest that is an important area for some animals and a migratory route for birds. They also warn about the harm the turbines can do to bats that mistakenly fly into them.

Benedict said her family took steps to protect the property while working out the lease agreement with E.ON. About 300 to 400 acres of the land is off limits, because it is the site of an unusual collection of enormous rock formations. She said the agreement requires a buffer to be kept around streams on the property.

She would also like the project to be a case study of how areas cleared for turbines should be replanted.

Under the agreement the Shoemakers signed with E.ON, the family will receive a percentage of the project's profits. Now, the family sells some of the timber on the land, earning enough to maintain the property and pay for health insurance, Benedict said.

But she said that along with the financial security the project could bring to the family, it would mean a source of renewable energy.

"What you find with very large pieces of undeveloped ground like that is that you have a very large asset and very little income for it," Benedict said.

Benedict said that her father, Lewis Shoemaker, who died in March 2006, wanted to keep the property intact and in the family if possible. Her grandfather bought the land from Lehigh Coal Co. in 1946.

"The cash flow the wind farm will generate should enable those two things to happen," Benedict said. "We also believe in wind power. We believe it's important for our country that we pursue this. But if land owners aren't willing to host it, the technology is not going to evolve and really benefit anybody."

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.

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