WASHINGTON, March 23, 2016 - U.S. wind farms now pay $222
million a year to landowners across rural America. This annual “windfall” could
soar to $650 million if the Department of Energy is right in forecasting that
wind could provide 20 percent of U.S. electricity by 2030.
An analysis released Tuesday by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) shows
that
the $222 million payout
includes more than $156 million going to landowners in counties with below
average incomes. AWEA adds that along with the extra income for rural America,
the switch to wind power from high-water-use thermal power plants already has
cut power-sector water use by 73 billion gallons per year, a savings of about
226 gallons of water per year for every American.
The analysis is a first slice of AWEA’s 2015
U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report, set for release on April 12. It
shows that farmers, ranchers and other landowners in six states currently
receive over $10 million dollars a year in lease payments, with Texas ranked No.
1, followed by Iowa, California, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas. Landowners in
26 other states receive over $1 million dollars each year.
“The rapid growth of wind energy largely benefits rural
communities, including some of the most economically distressed parts of the
U.S.,” says AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan. As more states implement or expand renewable
portfolio standards requiring renewable energy, Kiernan says. “States with the
best policies will continue to attract the new investment in this locally made,
drought-resistant cash crop” – a crop that provided 191 million megawatt-hours
of wind generation in 2015, enough electricity for about 17.5 million American
homes.
Addressing cost concerns, AWEA’s analysis states that
“Consumers in the 10 states with the most renewable energy pay less on their
electric bills than the 10 states with the least amount of renewables.”
Wind farms also pay taxes that
contribute new revenue to local communities, benefiting schools, county and
local services, libraries, hospitals and public safety facilities.
For example, Oklahoma wind farms
return over $1
billion dollars in property taxes to counties and local schools over their
life, according to an Oklahoma
State Chamber report in 2015. In Ohio, a single wind farm is the largest
taxpayer in one county and local
school officials report the wind farm adds $400,000 a year in new revenue,
even helping to supply over 900 new
computers for students. See AWEA’s map of payments to landowners, below.
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com