$1.5 billion project could bring first wind farm to Peoria County

• A hearing was held for a proposed wind turbine farm in Peoria County, drawing over 100 attendees.
• The project, proposed by Repsol Renewables, involves 113 turbines on 40,000 acres of land.
• Attorneys for landowners opposed to the project argued the hearing should not proceed due to notification issues.

PEORIA — The first in a multitude of planned court trial-style hearings that will help determine if a large swath of Peoria County land should be made into a wind turbine farm was held on Monday with a crowd of more than 100 people in attendance.

Monday’s hearing of the Peoria County Zoning Board of Appeals began slowly, however, as attorneys representing the county, Four Creeks Wind and 34 landowners opposed to the project subjected those in attendance to a 90-minute pre-hearing hearing in which arguments were made as to whether a hearing could be held in the first place.

Attorney Rick Porter, who was hired by 34 landowners opposed to the 40,000-acre wind farm, argued to Judge Scott Shore, who presided over the hearing, and the Zoning Board of Appeals, that the board did not have jurisdiction any longer to hold Monday’s hearing.

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He asked the board to flat-out reject Repsol Renewables’ application or make the company, which is proposing constructing 113 turbines in Peoria County, go back to the drawing board and submit new application materials.

Porter’s argument, which was centered on his contention that the notification process for the hearing had been bungled by the county and Repsol Renewables, was ultimately for naught as the board decided to take the advice of its attorney and proceed with Monday’s hearing, despite Porter’s objections.

Attorney Andy Keyt, who was representing Peoria County, and Seth Uphoff, who was representing Repsol Renewables, scoffed at Porter’s pre-hearing case and at time even seemed perturbed with his contention that the process had been intentionally handled in a way to not give him ample time to prepare an argument.

The hearing proceeded, and Uphoff called three witnesses to testify on behalf of the project, including local farmer Robert Wieland, who has multiple acres of land participating in the wind farm. Wieland is getting paid for use of his land but told Porter multiple times during his testimony he did not know how much he was being paid.

Wieland told the board he was originally opposed to the project but agreed to sign on after considering the tax dollars the project would generate for the local school district, particularly Brimfield schools. Over the life of the project, which is about 40 years considering the life-span of modern turbines, Repsol Renewables says more than $199 million will be generated for schools in Princeville, Brimfield, Williamsfield and Stark County.

Porter, on multiple occasions, tried to get Wieland to budge on how much he was being paid to participate in the project, but he stood firm in his answer that he did not know.

Wind farm project proposed for Peoria County

Project developer Carson Robers delivered more technical testimony on behalf of the petitioners, laying out details of the project which has been in the works since 2020. Robers said there are other wind turbine projects in Illinois, including one in McLean County, that are similar or even larger to this proposal.

The windmill models proposed for the Peoria County project range from 631- to 657-feet tall.

Porter made the size of the windmills a point of contention during Monday’s hearing, asking who would really want to live next to something that was, as he noted, the same size as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Robers and Porter had a back and forth over the use of the energy generated by the windmills. Robers said the energy generated by the windmills is contracted to be sold to Ameren but also said there is a need for it in Peoria.

It will cost approximately $1.5 billion to build the project, Robers said. But they will be seeking a tax credit in the neighborhood of 50% to do it.

There are a litany of hearings still planned over the course of two weeks in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals, which will send a recommendation to the Peoria County Board for approval or denial of the project.

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