RAYMONDVILLE — The green light’s on for Willacy County’s latest wind farm.
County commissioners have created a reinvestment zone to allow the county to consider tax breaks for EDF Energy, a London-based company planning to build about 100 wind turbines along the county’s southeastern edge.
The state requires the creation of reinvestment zones to negotiate tax abatements, County Judge Aurelio Guerra said yesterday.
Guerra said commissioners would consider the company’s requests for tax breaks.
Covering about 20,000 acres, the reinvestment zone runs from the FM 1420 area to Santa Monica and north to the Willamar area, where the Lyford school district would reap a windfall in tax revenue.
EDF is working with Raymondville developer Joe Wetegrove on the project.
Wetegrove launched the project with New York-based OwnEnergy, which merged with EDF.
Construction could be completed in 2018.
County officials are counting on the wind farm to boost revenues more than a year after the closure of the Willacy County Correctional Center slashed a third of the county’s $8.1 million general fund budget.
EDF would become the third company to operate wind farms in Willacy County.
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