Project Benefits
Prosperity Wind delivers significant benefits to the community beyond generating reliable, locally generated electricity. These benefits include a new source of income for farmers and landowners, additional tax revenue to support local priorities, hundreds of construction jobs, and long-term operations careers, among others.
Generating Affordable, Clean, American Energy
Wind energy is among the most affordable sources of electricity in many places across the United States. Utility-scale renewable energy prices are significantly below those for coal generation, and less than half the cost of nuclear.
Because wind turbines require no fuel, adding them to a utility's mix lowers fuel costs and shields customers from price swings.
New Revenue for Community Priorities
Prosperity Wind is proud to be Piatt County's largest taxpayers. Over $93 million in property tax revenue will be generated over the project's lifetime, benefitting local school districts, Piatt County, and townships.
In addition to the local tax revenue, the project provided $2 million in matching funds to bring broadband internet to Piatt County and an additional $500,000 to cover a grant writing position to help secure additional funding for county projects.
Supporting the Local Farm Economy
Participating farmers and landowners will receive rent payments to host facilities on their property. This revenue can help local farmers diversify their operations and keep the farm in the family. Clean energy projects are helping diversify the incomes of thousands of farmers and landowners across the country, with projects making more than $1 billion in lease payments annually nationwide.
.png)
Construction Jobs and Opportunities
Prosperity Wind created over 400, good-paying union construction jobs. The skills, leadership, and professionalism of Laborers Local 703, Operators Locals 841 and 965, Iron Workers Local 380, Millwrights Local 1693, IBEW 601, and IBEW 51 helped make Prosperity Wind possible.
This included local concrete providers, road and civil contractors, and transportation of the wind turbines themselves, which include multiple U.S.-manufactured components.
Long-term Clean Energy Careers
Renewable energy jobs are among the fastest-growing employment opportunities in the country, with installation and technician positions consistently ranked among the top five fastest-growing occupations. The total number of positions is expected to grow by 40% to 60% over the next decade.
Technician jobs are also good-paying jobs, with a median wage of more than $60,000 per year.
A Commitment to Host Communities
One of Prosperity Wind's goals is to be a dependable, long-term partner to residents, local governments, and community organizations where our projects are located. One small way we do this is through our Community Grant Program.The program supports projects and programs that build safe and healthy communities, create economic opportunity, encourage environmental sustainability, and promote education. Through the program, the project has donated over $160,000 to organizations in the project area to date. Learn more and apply today:
A Long-term Educational Resource
Prosperity Wind has been proud to partner with school and community groups across Piatt County to provide an education experience for students to learn about wind energy and careers in the energy industry.
Apex has proudly sponsored multiple Piatt County student teams to participate in the National KidWind competition, including teams from the Blue Ridge and DeLand-Weldon school districts.
KidWind is a competition at both the state and national levels that provides students with an opportunity to design, manufacture, and test their own wind blade designs. Each team is judged on the efficiency and effectiveness of their design. The students spent several days at the national competition, meeting hundreds of other STEM-focused students from all over the country. They shared their ideas and designs and made new friends.
Learn more about their experience below: