Wind Farms Add Millions To Illinois Economy

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Maureen Foertsch McKinney

Published September 6, 2016 at 1:42 PM CDT

Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed legislation extending how wind farms are assessed from this year’s original sunset date out five years. The wind farms generate tens of millions of dollars each year.

That economic impact was the subject of a study by the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University this summer. Dave Loomis, the center’s director, spoke with reporter Maureen McKinney about just what sort of revenue is generated and where it comes from.

Dave Loomis is director of the Illinois Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University

The report can be found at http://renewableenergy.illinoisstate.edu/

Economy & Business

Maureen Foertsch McKinney

Maureen Foertsch McKinney is news editor and equity and justice beat reporter for NPR Illinois, where she has been on the staff since 2014 after Illinois Issues magazine’s merger with the station. She joined the magazine’s staff in 1998 as projects editor and became managing editor in 2003. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois Springfield, she was an education reporter and copy editor at three local newspapers, including the suburban Chicago Daily Herald, She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in English from UIS.

See stories by Maureen Foertsch McKinney