[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 12, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E820-E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COLORADO GREEN WINDFARM IN LAMAR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 12, 2004

  Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Mr. Speaker, wind energy is an inexhaustible, 
affordable and economically beneficial source of electricity, and is 
the Nation's fastest-growing new source of power. I am proud to salute 
the dedication on May 14 of the Colorado Green windfarm in Prowers 
County, near Lamar, in southeast Colorado. This dedication will take 
place in conjunction with Lamar's 118th birthday celebration, to be 
held on Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, with the theme of ``Winds 
of Progress Powering Our Future.'' The celebration is being sponsored 
by Lamar Chamber of Commerce, City of Lamar, Prowers County, Prowers 
County Development, Inc. and local business owners.
  At 162 megawatts, Colorado Green is the Nation's fifth-largest 
windfarm, and provides enough power for approximately 52,000 homes at a 
price competitive with conventional fuels. The project was developed by 
GE Wind Energy and is co-owned by PPM Energy and Shell WindEnergy, 
which sell the wind power to Xcel Energy. It is the largest capital 
investment ever made in Prowers County, and it has already begun 
generating tremendous local economic benefits throughout the 
neighboring communities of Lamar and Springfield.
  The economic benefits of the Colorado Green wind project include the 
creation of 10-15 new well-paying jobs at the site. During the height 
of construction, nearly 400 workers were employed, and these workers 
provided a sizable economic boost to local Lamar and Springfield 
businesses. For example, local motels had much higher occupancy than 
normal, and local restaurants and business experienced an upsurge of 
demand. The Texaco Food Mart in Lamar had to ``bring in more help'' in 
the early morning to deal with the added demand, and the Hay Stack 
Restaurant reported a 30 percent increase in business due to the 
windfarm construction.
  I am inserting an article from the Lamar Daily News of October 29, 
2003 that provides a first-hand illustration of the tremendous benefits 
that the Colorado Green wind project has brought to Lamar and the 
Prowers County area. This article, by reporter Virgil Cochran, shows 
the many economic benefits that wind development can bring to rural 
parts of our country.
  With so much of rural America suffering economic doldrums, wind 
energy has helped Lamar regain its footing, and I look forward to more 
such development throughout rural Colorado--which has the nation's 
11th-best wind energy resource--in the coming years.
  Besides the formal dedication of the Colorado Green wind project on 
May 14, other activities scheduled in conjunction with Lamar's ``Winds 
of Progress Powering Our Future'' activities that weekend include a 
parade featuring a 113-foot GE wind turbine and free guided bus tours 
to see the new windfarm. There will also be a 5K Walk and Run, Antique 
Car and Truck Show, Ducky Derby, ``Good Morning Lamar!'' breakfast and 
a ``Rock the Block'' dance.
  I congratulate Lamar as it dedicates the Colorado Green wind project 
and celebrates its 118th birthday on May 14 and 15.

               [From the Lamar Daily News, Oct. 29, 2003]

           Wind Farm Construction an Economic Boon for County

                          (By Virgil Cochran)

       Lamar.--The Colorado Green Wind Farm now under construction 
     in south central Prowers County has already had a strong 
     economic impact to the area--helping at least some local 
     businesses offset slow sales blamed on a drought and 
     generally sluggish economy. The giant project, the largest 
     single capital investment in the history of Prowers County, 
     will also continue to benefit the county for decades, 
     boosting the property tax base and adding some 12-15 new 
     jobs.
       For one couple, David and Aracelli Fernandez, who live near 
     the former Pleasant Heights Church, just a stone's throw down 
     the road from the project, the boom has already hit. David 
     and Aracelli are producing burritos about as fast as they can 
     make them and running two daily routes to provide the 200 to 
     300 workers on the job with some tasty nourishment.
       ``We'd starve to death if it weren't for that lady 
     (Aracelli),'' joked Chad-o Miller, a foreman with QCI 
     erectors, which is installing the nearly 300-foot-tall 
     turbines. Miller also predicted the workmen on the job will 
     be sorely missed by the local grocery stores, motels, and 
     restaurants when the project is complete.
       David Fernandez told the Daily News Friday he and his wife 
     have been selling an average of 400 burritos per day at $2 
     each. When we met up with Fernandez around noon Friday, he 
     had three oversize coolers in the back of his pickup which he 
     uses to keep the burritos warm, but all were empty. David had 
     sold his load of burritos for the day, and was attempting a 
     rendezvous with Aracelli to transfer some from her vehicle. 
     It was essentially, a startup business for the Fernandez's, 
     triggered solely by the wind farm.
       ``Most of our guys stay with Brad the Limo man,'' Miller 
     said, referring to Brad Semmens of Country Acres Motel and RV 
     Park. ``We've been filling up his motel and RV Park and he's 
     been great to us.'' And Semmens is far from the only motel 
     owner in the area to benefit from the influx of construction 
     workers.
       Kenny Buxton of Wallace Gas and Oil said the project has 
     also created a temporary boom in fuel and related sales, 
     offsetting what was otherwise very sluggish business due to 
     the downturn in agriculture. Buxton has been running fuel 
     delivery trucks to the site for weeks, providing fuel and 
     lubricants for dozens of vehicles and pieces of heavy 
     equipment at the site.
       It sometimes requires two truckloads per day to meet 
     demand, Buxton said, noting there are all sorts of excavating 
     equipment and specialized machinery from cranes to forklifts 
     to which he supplies fuel. Since it is impractical to move 
     the machinery to a fuel station, the construction companies 
     rely almost completely on bulk fuel delivery to the site.
       Sales tax receipts in the city have been on the slide for 
     something over a year, running at times ten percent or more 
     behind receipts for the same month of the previous year. But 
     the most recent month for which sales tax data are available, 
     the same month construction moved into full swing on the wind 
     farm, shows sales tax receipts are up over 13 percent from 
     the same month a year ago. While it is impossible to 
     determine how much of that is attributable to the wind farm, 
     many think the boom in local sales can be linked largely to 
     the project.
       Once the project is complete and is producing power, the 
     property tax benefits will roll on for at least three 
     decades. Although figures are only preliminary guesstimates, 
     County Assessor Andy Wyatt projects it will produce around 
     $764,000 per year in new revenue to the county, another 
     $917,000 to the Re-2 School District general fund, $203,900 
     to the Re-2 bond fund, and some $189,000 to Prowers Medical 
     Center.
       Exactly how that will shake out is uncertain for several 
     reasons, said Wyatt. First, the local mill levy to fund Re-2 
     is governed largely at the state level because of an 
     equalization program in state education funding. It will, at 
     least to some extent, lower the local mill levy taxpayers pay 
     to fund schools, but the amount of reduction hasn't been 
     determined.
       Some of the funds the county collects could be limited as 
     well, Wyatt said, because

[[Page E821]]

     the county is subject to the Arveschoug-Bird Amendment which 
     limits revenue increases to about 6 percent per year. But 
     because much of the increase in the county's assessed 
     valuation is from new construction, Wyatt said the county may 
     have the option of keeping most of the money.
       What the Prowers County Commissioners will decide to do 
     with the approximately three-quarter of a million dollar 
     annual tax windfall is not certain, but Wyatt said he thinks 
     some of it should go to property tax relief by reducing of 
     the mill levy for all taxpayers. He says that would help out 
     businesses like Neoplan, making them more competitive. Since 
     the wind farm is not located within Lamar City limits, 
     however, the city will see little, if any direct benefit from 
     property tax revenues.
       What Wyatt calls the ``windfarm windfall'' won't take 
     effect for another year, the beginning of 2005, but over the 
     long haul, the $760,000 per year in property taxes paid to 
     the county alone would inject some $22.9 million into the 
     local economy over a 30-year period if the commissioners 
     chose to collect all the new money and not reduce the 
     property tax levy. Wyatt said property like the wind farm is 
     assessed at the state level, and uses a formula which assures 
     that renewable energy projects are taxed at the same rate of 
     investment that would be spent on conventional power plants. 
     Thus even though the wind farm sold for over $200 million, 
     the state formula means it will be assessed at an 
     approximately $100 million in actual value.
       But that isn't the end of it. Construction is now under way 
     on another major electrical power-related project about ten 
     miles northeast of Lamar. Xcel Energy is installing an AC-DC 
     power converter that will link electrical grids--a project 
     estimated to be worth at least $25 million.
       Wyatt estimates the county will net another $189,000 from 
     the substation, while Re-2 will see tax revenue increases of 
     $226,000 to its general fund and $50,000 to its bond 
     repayment fund. PMC would net about $47,000. All those 
     figures are, of course based on present mill levies, but 
     could vary.
       An engineer at the substation project north of Lamar said 
     yesterday that the project is being built by a consortium of 
     two companies, Beta Engineering of Pineville, Louisiana, and 
     Siemens Transmission and Distribution of Raleigh, North 
     Carolina. He said the project is expected to continue for 
     about a year, and when complete, will link two of the 
     nation's major power grids, converting electrical power 
     from alternating to direct current, then back to 
     alternating again. In the process, the station will also 
     convert power from 230,000 volts to 345,000 volts so the 
     power can be routed into long-distance transmission lines.
       The project was mobilized about a week ago, and a 
     subcontractor on the job, Cajun Construction of Baton Rouge, 
     Louisiana, is already on the job beginning preliminary 
     concrete work.
       In additional to local job opportunities and increased 
     sales by local businesses the projects have created and will 
     continue to create, the two projects combined will provide an 
     estimated $79 million in property tax receipts over a 30-year 
     period, according to Wyatt's figures.
       The project also paved the way for Lamar Light and Power 
     and the Arkansas River Power Authority to own wind farms of 
     its own. G.E. does not ordinarily sell only a handful of its 
     1.5 megawatt turbines--the largest in the wind power 
     business--because of complications and expense with 
     maintenance and warranties of the equipment. But since the 
     wind farm was only a few miles down the road, ARPA and Lamar 
     were able to capitalize on the event, along with 40-year lows 
     in bond market interest, to install windfarms in Lamar and 
     Springfield.

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