Estherville Industrial Development Corporation President Lyle Hevern told chamber members Monday night just how close Estherville is to reaping the benefits of two long-awaited wind projects.
Hevern made his comments at the Estherville Area Chamber of Commerce and Estherville Industrial Development Corporation annual meeting at the Estherville VFW.
The North Star Wind Farm will include 133 GE turbines generating 200 megawatts of energy, making it one of the largest investor-owned wind farms in the nation.
The wind farm, sited on property owned by 90 different landowners, is pegged at a cost of $550 million and will have 200 construction workers on site. It will generate over $50 million in property taxes for Emmet and Dickinson counties over the next 30 years. Work on the farm will start the last quarter of this year.
The other project, the Red Rock Wind Farm, will be south and west of Estherville and generate 300 megawatts of energy, half again the size of the North Star project. Hevern said construction on the Red Rock project is scheduled to start this fall.
Altogether, the two wind projects carry a price tag of $1.2 billion, "By far the biggest economic project in our area's history," Hevern said.
The two projects will generate enough energy for 130,000 homes, Hevern said.
Hevern also noted the seven wind turbines Iowa Lakes Electric Co-op is erecting for the Superior Ethanol plant. He further noted the growth of the Iowa Lakes Community College wind program.
"We've seen hard times before and the way to deal with that is bonding together and working together," Hevern said.
