Panther Creek Wind Farm
6:23 AM
The wind farm is one of the 10 largest in the country with 305 wind turbines in Glasscock, Sterling and Howard counties. It has a generating capacity of more than 457 megawatts, enough to power 135,000 homes.
The completion of Panther Creek brings EC&R’s total United States generating capacity to 1,419.7 megawatts.
The Panther Creek wind farm is the third E.ON wind farm in Big Spring. Forest Creek wind farm has about 124 megawatts of capacity, and Sand Bluff has 90.
EC&R also owns the largest wind farm in the world, near Roscoe, about an hour’s drive west of Abilene in Nolan County. The Roscoe wind farm represents a total a capacity of 713.5 megawatts.
The Panther Creek wind farm is not to be confused with the town of Panther Creek, near Coleman. The wind farm, located in the Forsan school district south of Big Spring, was named after a tiny creek in the area.
Terry Wegman, executive director for the Big Spring Economic Development Corporation, said there has been a positive economic impact in the area due to recent wind farm construction, from temporary jobs in the construction and service industries to permanent jobs and a $300 million boost to the area’s tax base ($45 million of it from the Panther Creek wind farm alone).
Company officials said tax revenues from the Panther Creek complex have helped fund significant local initiatives including scholarships, 4-H and youth sports programs at local schools.
EC&R officials said the company will invest more than $11.39 billion in renewable energy and environmental protection projects from 2007 to 2011 to expand the share of renewable energy in E.ON’s portfolio for the long term.
