The largest wind facility in Utah is complete

BOSTON — First Wind, a wind power company, completed the first phase of the Milford Wind Corridor project located in Millard and Beaver counties in Utah. The first phase of the project will generate 203.5 MW of clean energy, making it the largest renewable energy facility in Utah.

This Milford Wind Corridor project began nearly a year ago in November 2008 and has created more than 250 development and construction jobs. First Wind directly spent about $30 million with Utah-based businesses developing and building the first phase of the project and another $56 million in indirect spending such as wages and taxes.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Utah’s Lt. Governor Greg Bell indicated that the “project has generated nearly $86 million in direct and indirect spending in Utah and will continue to benefit the region.” Bell further noted, “Utah has tremendous potential for generating renewable power. This development primes Utah’s economic engine, while also protecting our environment.”

The Milford Wind Corridor is the first wind energy facility permitted under the Bureau of Land Management’s Wind Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Western US states.

The Milford Wind Corridor project is expected to provide both environmental and economic benefits to the surrounding region. Based on data recently published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database (E-GRID), traditional generation sources producing an equivalent annual amount of electric energy as the Milford project would emit greenhouse gases consisting of more than 210,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of more than 37,000 automobiles. In addition, equivalent energy production from traditional sources would produce 295 tons of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain that harms lakes and rivers. Unlike other conventional forms of power generation, wind power does not use any water.