bonds may spur construction of big southern new mexico wind farm

Some five months after it won the approval of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, a wind farm near the village of Corona is taking the next step towards development.
Members of the Lincoln County Commission have voted in favor of issuing up to $1.4 billion in industrial revenue bonds to build what could ultimately be a 1,000-megawatt facility that will go up in several phases.
The project, which has been in the talking stage for several years, would be built on some 125,000 acres, and is being developed by the San Francisco-based Pattern Energy Group.
That company, which according to its latest financial statement saw revenues of more than $483 million during the final quarter of 2018, purchased the project from Mesa Canyons Wind LLC last year.
As proposed, in return for the issuance of the industrial revenue bonds, Lincoln County may possess a lease-hold interest in both the land and equipment needed for the project.
Pattern would also make payments on the county bonds, with roughly two-thirds of that money going to Lincoln County and the remaining third shared by the Corona Public Schools District and the Carrizozo Municipal Schools district.
County officials still need to finalize the industrial revenue bonds documents in preparation for a final commission vote on the project later this spring.

By Garry Boulard

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