Letters to land owners in Wilson Township in the northern part of the county were sent in October by a land agent representing Engie North America, a Houston, Texas-renewable energy company, specializing in developing wind projects.

“Engie is interested in developing the BlueBird Wind Project in DeWitt County because of the excellent wind resource and existing electrical transmission infrastructure in the area,” writes Cheryl Sun. “We believe that the land you own in our proposed project area has good characteristics for development.”

Messages left for Sun and for the press office at Engie North America were not returned.

In July, the county approved its first-ever wind farm, the Alta Farms II project in Barnett, Wapella and Clintonia townships. The board voted 6-5 in favor of the project, but three members who voted for the project were voted out of office in the November election. A fourth member, who did not vote because of a conflict of interest, was defeated in the spring primary.

DeWitt County Board Chairman Terry Ferguson said he saw a social media post about the company contacting prospective landowners, but doesn’t know much else.

“They haven’t contacted us as far as I know,” he said.

Zoning Administrator Aaron Paque also has not been contacted.

“We have not had any formal contact with anybody representing that company,” he told The Pantagraph.

Construction on the Alta Farms II project is slated to begin in 2021, but two lawsuits have been filed in DeWitt County to stall the project.

Enel Energy, formerly Tradewind Energy, has filed a motion to dismiss both lawsuits. The motion on the lawsuit filed by the Village of Wapella will be heard on Feb. 24 in DeWitt County. A hearing date on the other lawsuit, filed by opponents of the wind farm, has not yet been set.

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