Delays may doom wind farm project

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Debtors are knocking at their door and time is running short for promoters of a $500 million wind farm to deliver or lose their lease.

The Colorado State University Research Foundation on July 23 voted to give Wind Holding LLC 60 days to pay vendors who are threatening to take legal action to recover the cost of goods and services provided.

By the same deadline, Wind Holding must begin construction of the wind farm and secure an agreement with a transmission provider.

If it does not meet those three demands by Sept. 25, the lease would be terminated with CSURF, which could solicit offers from other would-be wind farm developers.

"In our minds this was round one," said Lisa Billings, who became one of the project's most vocal opponents after learning of the wind farm only after she and her husband bought a home north of Livermore near the proposed site. In response, she helped found the Greater Red Mountain Protection Association.

"We will all need to keep in mind that CSURF can still find another company to install a commercial wind farm on Maxwell Ranch," Billings stated in a congratulatory e-mail to GRMPA members. "However, I'm hopeful that CSU will be more prudent in honoring the wishes of Fred Maxwell and Maxwell Ranch."

Colorado State University Senior Vice President for Research and Engagement Bill Farland said he hopes CSURF won't have to start over.

"I know (Wind Holding is) actively trying to deal with this situation," said Farland, a non-voting member on the CSURF board of trustees.

A private, not-for-profit agency formed to support the university, CSURF owns the property proposed for the wind farm 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins. Maxwell bequeathed the ranch to CSURF for research or any other experimental purposes CSURF "may deem advisable."

Wind Holding proposed erecting up to 100 wind turbines on roughly 8,000 acres of the 11,000-acre Maxwell Ranch straddling the Colorado-Wyoming border. Additional turbines were proposed for adjoining private properties within Larimer County.

The turbines would rise 405 feet from the base to the tip of the 147-foot rotor blade and produce up to 200 megawatts of pollution-free electricity - enough to power more than 70,000 homes, according to CSU.

Announced with great fanfare in March 2007, the Green Power Project was hailed as a dramatic demonstration of CSU's commitment to be recognized as the premier green university and a "worldwide leader in developing and disseminating clean and renewable energy sources."

The project was touted as a "cutting-edge laboratory for major interdisciplinary studies," educating the new green workforce. In addition to research opportunities, the project was aimed at moving the university campus toward its goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions attributed to causing global warming. Excess electricity generated would enrich CSU through its sale to other utilities.

CSU at the time said construction would begin in two years and the project could be operational by 2010, but that exuberant announcement proved unduly optimistic.

First, permitting was delayed until Larimer County adopted new regulations relating to large energy projects. No permit application has yet been filed and Wind Holding has not contacted county planning officials for weeks.

Then it faced a flurry of opposition from critics of the visual and environmental impact of the turbines and the associated transmission towers and roads that would traverse northern Larimer County.

Now, Farland said, Wind Holding is suffering the same credit crunch afflicting others during this time of economic distress.

He characterized Wind Holding as "overextended" since its big backer - a prominent, private German bank - refused to extend its line of credit. He presumes Wind Holding is seeking another funding partner.

"That's obviously what we're trying to put together," said Mick Powers, a principal in the company.

In mid-August, Powers said he had not been in contact with chief executive officer Bruce Morley for three weeks and didn't know the status of that effort. He referred inquiries to Morley.

"He's involved in the day-to-day stuff," Powers said. "He's the manager. He has the lease with CSU. He's doing all the work."

But Morley has proven elusive. He did not respond to calls or e-mails and has been similarly unavailable to other news media attempting to contact him.

In its informational packet about the Green Power Project, CSU described Wind Holding as a "consortium of the world's most experienced wind power development experts and financial institutions from Europe and the U.S." that has participated in 27 wind power projects in California and Europe.

"Through January and February of 2009 we thought they were doing very well," Farland said. "They were quite close to wrapping up a lot of those ecology studies."

Farland said Wind Holding already has paid the $50,000 up-front fee specified in the contract and another $50,000 to extend the contract one year to April 2010. He said those payments were used to fund studies requested by neighbors on the project's potential economic impact - particularly on nearby real estate values.

Farland said CSURF remains committed to harnessing the wind resources at Maxwell Ranch.

"It's our hope because of the progress they've made, (Wind Holding) will meet the terms of the contract within 60 days," he said.

In addition to the impact on the environment and property values, critics objected to what they characterized as a commercial operation inconsistent with Maxwell's intention that the ranch be used for agricultural research.

"This isn't research, this is commerce," Billings said. "I don't think he ever thought a commercial wind farm would be put on his land."

"I think we had a great impact," she added. "We know we slowed them down and made them realize they couldn't slide this by."