Case Study: Gratiot County Wind Project, Michigan

Oct. 8, 2012

The Gratiot County Wind Project, Michigan's newest wind energy facility, began construction in 2011 and was completed in June 2012. The 212.8-megawatt (MW) wind farm is Michigan's largest and increased the state's total wind energy capacity from 377 MW to nearly 600 MW.

Project Facts

• The project utilizes 133 GE 1.6-MW turbines.
• The wind farm is located on approximately 30,000 acres of private land near the town of Breckenridge in the townships of Wheeler, Bethany, Emerson, and Lafayette.
• Gratiot Wind LLC, an affiliate of Invenergy, owns 69 of the turbines. DTE Energy owns 64 turbines.

Jobs and Economic Development Impacts

• The $440 million project employed 260 skilled construction workers and now employs 14 full-time workers to operate and maintain the wind turbines.
• Tax payments will total approximately $35 million over 20 years.
• More than 260 landowners will receive almost $2 million annually from land-lease and other payments.
• Bethany Township will receive between $60,000 to $70,000 in taxes for the first year of the project's operation and will receive at least $55,000 a year in the future, which represents one-quarter of the rural township's budget.