[SheriffMarge]

Hi,

Does anyone know of any planned or proposed development in St. Ignace that would prompt AEP (American Electric Power) to ask for access to undeveloped property?

The area is the west side of Mackinac Trail, maybe a mile north of the Charles Moran/Gorman intersection. Wondering if this is just maintenance or if there's some development coming up in that region.

Thanks.

[allbusiness]

How large a parcel? Perhaps they are locking it up for future development of a wind farm.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by allbusiness

How large a parcel? Perhaps they are locking it up for future development of a wind farm.

That's exactly what I would have guessed too. The whole Mackinaw Straits area was seen as highly advantageous for wind turbines, wasn't it?

[SheriffMarge]

Not sure the size of the parcel but I don't think it's more than a few acres, if that. Wind turbines, hmm? AEP didn't seem interested in purchasing the land, they just wanted access to it (the owner offered to sell it).

I've been digging around the internet to see if I could find anything about future plans for the area, including the AEP website but haven't found any clues at all. I appreciate this info - thanks very much!

[belleislerunner]

Typically the way wind farm structures work - is the local farm owner owns the lands. The utility agrees to lease a small portion of the land and install winds turbines in it. The utility generates returns based on the output of the farm. Often the utility (e.g. AEP) generates renewable energy credits (REC's) which are tax advantageous. So the utility gets money from the electricity and credits from the government. (i.e. well really from us). Often there is another limited partner in the deal (a GE type entity) that receives the tax benefits once a stipulated internal rate of return has been generated. This is known as a flip structure. For example, utility gets 95% of cash and 5% of REC's until it receives a 10% investment over 10 years. Then it flips and the other investor gets the 95% cash and 95% REC's. It's purely tax driven to lower the amout of tax a corporation pays. The "green energy" is the term du jour to appease certain constituents for the loopholes.

[belleislerunner]

Here's an intro writeup - http://www.geenergyfinancialservices...ts_March07.pdf

[SheriffMarge]

Thanks Belle! Looks like we may be taking a trip to Michigan in the next few weeks to see what else we can learn. I appreciate everyone's time and help.