Consultant: 4 Creeks would generate $11.5 million first-year local taxes and hundreds of jobs

Dr. David Loomis, an economist retained by the applicant, presented an IMPLAN-based economic-impact and property-tax analysis for the 4 Creeks Wind Project. Using Peoria County and Illinois data, his model estimated about 688 full-time-equivalent jobs across direct and supply-chain categories during construction and roughly 97 FTE jobs annually during operations, including 6 direct on-site operations roles and 54 supply-chain/induced positions.

"We find 233 jobs [direct on-site], ... another 298 in the supply chain for a total there of 688 full-time equivalent jobs for Peoria County," Loomis testified. He said his earnings measures include wages and benefits and that induced spending (retail, dining, local services) contributes to additional lower-wage jobs in the local economy. Loomis also described using IMPLAN and BEA-based data specific to Peoria County as the modeling basis.