Boise State Public Radio
Magic Valley Energy wants to build a wind farm in south central Idaho. With about 400 turbines, it would be the largest wind project in Idaho, producing as much as 1,000 megawatts of power.
Though the project is not yet approved, the developer is hosting town halls this week for community input. The first is on Friday at the College of Southern Idaho at 4 p.m., and the second is on Saturday at the Lincoln County Community Center in Shoshone at 3 p.m.
The project site is predominately in Lincoln County, but also extends into Jerome and Minidoka counties. Construction could start as early as next year.
Meetings on Proposed Wind Farm East of Shoshone, 4/23 & 4/24 newsradio1310.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsradio1310.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Boise State News February 2, 2021
Geoff Black. Photo by Patrick Sweeney.
Geoff Black, a professor in the Department of Economics and associate at the Energy Policy Institute, conducted a study on the economic and fiscal impacts of the Magic Valley Energy’s Lava Ridge billion-dollar wind farm project in Eastern Idaho. Black conducted the study with Steve Peterson, an economist at the University of Idaho. The farm, when constructed, will stretch across public land in Lincoln, Jerome and Minidoka counties. At 1,000 megawatts, the Lava Ridge wind farm will be one of the biggest wind farms in the world.
“We broke out the increased tax revenues by taxing districts within each of the three counties,” said Black. “The company wanted the county commissioners to see the big increase in tax revenues for school districts and libraries. If the project goes through, local taxing districts could see big annual tax payments for decades.”
The windy windfall: LS Power releases timeline, economic projections for $1 billion wind farm argusobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from argusobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.