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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA company planning to build a wind farm spread across four central Indiana counties says it has obtained 125 building permits for the project's first phase.
E-on Climate & Renewables, a European company with U.S. offices based in Chicago, said 69 of those permits are in Tipton County and 56 in Madison County.
Company spokesman Matt Tullis told the Kokomo Tribune that it expects delivery of its first electricity-producing turbines in July and will then start building towers in Madison County.
The company says the Wildcat Wind Farm project's first phase will cost up to $400 million to build.
E-on said it expects to employ 200 and 300 workers during construction and about 12 permanent workers for maintenance work on the turbines.
Phase One is expected to generate about 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 60,000 homes. The utility said the project will be connected to American Electric Power's transmission system, which will deliver the power to customers in Indiana and Michigan.
In May 2011, E-on reached a 20-year agreement with Fort Wayne-based utility Indiana Michigan Power to sell the utility power from the proposed farm.
Future phases of the project are planned in neighboring Howard and Grant counties in the area about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. A company spokesman said future expansion would hinge on federal tax credits.
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