Committee approves lower financial-assurance estimate for California Ridge wind farm

Ben Coakley, an asset manager with TerraForm Power, told the Champaign County Environment and Land Use Committee that company representatives and HDR Engineering—hired as the independent engineering firm—were present to answer technical questions about updates to the wind farm decommissioning plan. “HDR served as the independent air engineering firm responsible for preparing the proposed updates to the decommissioning plan,” Coakley said, and added the team would remain available for questions.

County staff described the financial-assurance update and recommended approval. John Hall, county staff, said this was the fourth time the estimate had been adjusted and that the firm used a different methodology than previous updates. “Here in 2026 compared to 2023, the net decommissioning cost has decreased by 16%,” Hall said, and summarized a projection of $4,800,000 under the new estimate compared with $6,900,000 in the 2022 update, assuming 11 years remain in the wind farm’s life and 3% annual inflation.

Hall said the change reflected both a decrease in estimated costs and lower expected salvage values. Committee members discussed whether the engineer should attend the full county board meeting and suggested either a single representative attend or that the company provide a written summary to board members in advance.

After discussion, the committee moved and approved the adjustment to the financial assurance for the California Ridge Wind Farm (special use permit 696S11). The committee chair thanked the applicants for attending and noted the committee’s preference that the owner or engineer be available to answer any county-board questions.

The adjustment will be forwarded to the county board with the committee’s recommendation.