1.  Clayton/Golden/Camp Point: 

According to an Acciona representative speaking to the Adams County Board in the summer of 2010, Acciona/Global Winds Harvest has already secured 77 leases covering 12,000 acres of land so far in the Golden and Clayton area, east of Highway 94 and on both sides of Highway 24.  Some of that land is within Clayton's and Golden's 1.5 mile zone, including land that borders the city limits.   The developers (Acciona & Global Winds Harvest) stated they wanted to acquire another 6000-8000 acres (up to 20,000 total acres) for this wind farm. 

This wind farm should be expected to grow significantly and rapidly beyond the 96 turbines currently under discussion.  For example, McLean County began with an initial 120 turbines in March of 2007; the "second phase" of another 120 turbines was completed less than a year later because they already had the land leased.  Today, less than three years later, they have nearly 900 turbines approved or installed in that massive, growing wind farm, and they are not "done" yet.  McLean County is not unusual; wind farms are rapidly expanding in most Illinois Counties where they have a foothold, including Livingston, Lee, Ford, Iroquois, and others.

As evidence of this company's likely (but as yet unspoken) plans to expand, consider this:  even without acquiring an additional 6000-8000 acres, 77 leaseholders who own 12,000 acres means there is an average of about 155 acres per leaseholder--enough leased ground to cite between 2-4 turbines per leaseholder on the average.  This means that conservatively, this developer already has enough land leased for 150-300 turbines already (assuming one turbine per 40-80 acres), but they have said they are still seeking enough additional land they could potentially add another 75-150 turbines on top of that in future stages. 

Once they hit their target of 20,000 leased acres in this one wind farm, they will cover more than 60 square miles, assuming a 50% rate of land that is leased vs. land that is not leased.  Further, they will have enough ground leased to put up 250-500 turbines in the Camp Point/Clayton/Golden area.  This is likely to be a far bigger development than 96 turbines, we believe the people and town boards here should be honestly informed, in advance, of the real scope of the project.

2.   Quincy/Mendon/Ursa/Marcelline:   

At the Adams County Board meeting, the Acciona representative stated he did not know who was developing this wind farm, and stated that "there may be other developers working in the county."  Therefore, the identity of that developer is a mystery.  Whoever it is has not openly taken part in the dialog about the Adams County Wind Ordinance, nor has this developer so far openly spoken to any town boards whose towns this development might surround.

However, we have reports of parcels of land already leased as close as 1.5 miles northeast of Quincy, between Highway 96 and Interstate 172, and continuing north past Mendon, Ursa, and Marcelline.  Our group members have reported they know about land leased quite close to each of these towns, including next to one nursing home. 

We encourage the "mystery wind developer" to come forward, let the public who live in the country and villages north of Quincy know your identity and how big your plans are for the area where they live.  We believe that responsible development is not "sprung" on the public; news of the changes you are planning for the people in this area should not "blindside" whole towns. 

We have heard that in the contracts, you have already named the wind farm project the "Rock Creek Wind Farm."   So, could you please tell the people in the area who you are, and at least a little bit about your future plans for our property, our lives, and our towns