The proposed gas-fired electric generating plant will front on Valley View Road and be north of the Oakwood Hills Village Hall.
Before a community can site an electric generating plant, the prospective host community must agree to a “host community agreement.”
It contains pertinent details of the arrangement.
Pursuant to a Freedom of Information request, McHenry County Blog has obtained the agreement between Oakwood Hills and a consortium of Northland Power and Enventure Partners called the Oakwood Hills Energy Center.
The agreement was approved on May 1st by the Oakwood Hills Village Board on a vote of 5-0 (with one Trustee absent).
The 430-megawatt gas-fired electric generating plant, to be built on a 13-acre parcel behind the Village Hall, sounds as if it will be the primary supplier of electricity to McHenry County.
The turbines will include
- a GE “Series 7” gas turbine generator
- a GE steam turbine generator
- a fired heat recovery steam generator
The remuneration to the Village of Oakwood Hills is listed in the document.
$60,000 will be paid within ten days of the Board’s approving the requested zoning.
That money, according to Village President Melanie Funk, will go toward the Village’s share of improving Rawson Bridge Road in cooperation with the Algonquin Township Road District.
An additional $500,000 will be paid when financing is finalized.
And, with the start of the generation of electricity, an addition $700,000 shall be paid.
The project is not expect to be completed for four years.
Thereafter, the Village will receive $150,000 per year, plus its share of property taxes which are estimated to be $750,000. ($490,000 will go to Prairie Grove Grade and Crystal Lake High School. The downside for Prairie Grove will be the loss of most State Aid to Education because it will become a “property rich” district.)
When asked for a comment, Village President Melanie Funk said, “Right now I’m remaining neutral until we hear all of the information.”
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Other articles that might be of interest:
6-27-14 Oakwood Hills Again Negotiating for Gas-Powered Electric Generating Plant
7-3-14 Oakwood Hills Energy Center Project Unveiled
7-7-14 Oakwood Hills Gas-Fired Generating Plant Developer Notifies Local Officials
When all the surrounding property values plummet I hope the $750,000 per year paid by the plant can sustain the Village, the school, the food pantry etc.
$750,000 a year might sound like a lot to a country girl…until sadder and wiser,she finds out she might’ve gotten a steak dinner rather than a burger at the drivethru (no fries). (See Coachella California peaker Plant. They are getting $8 mil a year for an 800 megawatt peaker plant).
The big problem is the water usage.
Properties are worthless without water. Water taken from one location above ground has impact that reaches beyond surface municipal borders.
(There are particulate matter emissions (look up: PM2.5)from nat-gas electric plants, but nobody seems to care much about longer-term effects that can’t be proven–strictly correlated– in court.)