The conversation regarding potential Morgan County wind farms is still ongoing.
Apex Clean Energy is a corporation that specializes in development, construction and operation of wind and solar power facilities. They are centrally located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Apex Clean Energy have announced a conceptual summary for the Lincoln Land Wind project, a series of wind farms in East Central Morgan County, at lincolnlandwind.com.
Apex recently conducted a survey of 351 Morgan County residents, which based on recorded population statistics between the last census in 2010 and now is slightly more than only 1 percent of all Morgan County citizens. A press release that listed the results of the 351 person survey says the majority of Morgan County residents support the Lincoln Land project.
Based on the percentages revealed by the first question of the Lincoln Land Wind survey, nearly 200 people questioned said outright that they support the initiative. Just over 50 people said they outright oppose the plans, and just over 100 people were initially unsure.
Helen Humphreys is the Public Relations Manager with Apex Clean Energy. Humphreys offers the final data that was presented from the initial question in the survey.
“The purpose of the survey is to learn more about what people know about wind energy, what is known about the Lincoln Land Wind project specifically, and what kind of support and concerns are there. We found that about 56.5 percent of people asked support wind energy, and only about 14.5 percent said they oppose the idea. Roughly 29 percent hadn’t heard anything about it.”
The survey asked additional questions to those unsure of their stance on the matter. Humphreys goes over some of the results of additional questions to those who were unsure.
“We provided them information about the benefits of the Lincoln Land Wind project. 56 percent of those unsure said they would lean towards supporting the project. Some of the most important reasons people declared for their support include new jobs, a clean and domestic source of energy, and of course the estimated $42,000,000 in tax revenue over 25 years, too.”
Humphreys says education is an important part of the Lincoln Land Wind project.
“We think there is really a need to teach people about the benefits of wind energy and how the project can, for instance, result in a conservative estimate of $42 million in tax revenue to the county over the next 25-30 years. A significant majority of that would go to schools, about $28 million.”
That’s about two-thirds of that tax revenue to schools in the county.
For more information about the Lincoln Land Wind project, call (217)-236-6178 or go online to lincolnlandwind.com.