National Wind forms Little Rock Wind

From Energy Current
March 12, 2009

ORTONVILLE, MINN.: National Wind, LLC has formed Little Rock Wind, LLC, its seventh Minnesota-based, community-owned wind energy company. The company has been formed in partnership with several Big Stone County community members, who formed a board of advisors that will work with National Wind to develop up to 150 MW of wind energy generation within the county.

Little Rock Wind will be holding a public landowner meeting on March 17 at the Clinton Memorial Building in Clinton, Minnesota. The goal of the meeting is to introduce the project and its community wind development model to Big Stone County landowners. Landowners will have the chance to meet with Little Rock Wind's founding board members and National Wind's development team, and learn how they can become involved.

Little Rock Wind recently opened an office in Ortonville, Minnesota.

National Wind's field specialist Jesse Hopkins-Hoel is working with the advisory board and area landowners to represent the project and gain landowner participation.

"National Wind's community wind projects such as Little Rock are unique in the industry - we are developing utility-scale projects using a true community wind model," said Bill Smeaton, senior wind developer at National Wind.

"We offer competitive land use payments, but our model also provides opportunities for local landowners to share in any revenues from a successful project. In addition, our local board of advisor structure adds the 'voice of the community' to the development process."

Little Rock Wind's projects will be developed over the course of the next five to seven years.