December 30th, 2024 by WCBC Radio

Wind turbines atop Dans’ Mountain continue to be erected by Clearway Energy.  At the recent Allegany County Commissioner’s meeting, Nick Benjamin, Clearway’s Senior Director of Development, laid out a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) plan with the county that was approved by the commissioners…

  

“Really, what the payment in lieu of taxes does is it sets out a prescribed schedule of payments. And our proposal here again is predicated on something that Garrett County and Washington County have done where there’s sort of a fixed discount to those payments over time relative to the business-as-usual.”

County Administrator said the steady income of over $800,000 yearly is a benefit that the county needs to ease budget issues…

   

“From our end, it makes really good sense. This is $800+ thousand dollars that’s going to come to the county for each of the next 35 years which is desperately needed here in the county as we’ve had our budget crises. So for us we think a really good deal.”