Read more: Local, Community, Economy, Cross Texas Transmission, Ceilo Wind Power, Wind Farm Transmission Lines
A company called Cross Texas Transmission has been holding meetings about putting wind farm transmission lines. They would run east of Childress, near Kirkland to southwest of Lefors.
Thursday was the last meeting where company officials told landowners how the use of their land could be a financial windfall.
"We will work with land owners in obtaining easements once the routes are selected, and uh, they will be compensated for the easements and we're probably a year away from that occuring by we will be working with landowners once that occurs, so the answer to the compensation is yes," said Cameron Fredleirs from Cross Texas Transmission.
The company needs a strip of land 170-feet wide to place each one of the towers. And it's those transmission lines, or lack of them, that is going to keep one project away from the panhandle. That decision was announced today by Cielo wind power.
While it misses the panhandle, it doesn't mean Amarillo is completely blown out of the game. There are not going to be any wind turbines here, but we could still see contractors from the panhandle hired to build the 36-thousand acre wind farm.
"Amarillo is, has a capable group of engineers and contactors that worked on wind projects over a period of many, many years, and we would draw on those, on the capabilities of those companies as well as ones around the general region to support the project," said Walt Hornaday, the president of Ceilo wind power.
The project should be creating jobs within in the next two years.
