County should seek its fair share with Penn Wind, other developers

Published: January 29, 2010

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It's good to see the tension over the proposed lease renewal for Penn Wind LLC's wind-farm project in Northumberland County has turned to optimism.

The public meeting involving Penn Wind and the county commissioners turned out to be brief and without public input or accusation Wednesday night. Perhaps scheduling the meeting and offering the chance for a public airing of this debate alone was enough to produce the more amicable feelings.

It's been pointed out repeatedly that the county needs to project an air of cooperation and willingness to embrace new energy development projects - and industry in general. That's certainly true. At the same time, we shouldn't be so naive as to accept the first offer that comes along - from Penn Wind or anyone else.

While not suggesting anyone is intent on defrauding the county of its deserved "cut," business people look at bottom lines - and they are going to keep as much of the profit as possible for themselves while still offering what they believe is a "fair" deal. Fair to them, meanwhile, may not be "fair" to the residents of the host county, as has been strongly suggested by Commissioner Clausi thus far in the Penn Wind case.

As pointed out in Thursday's "Green Light" column on this page, the Penn Wind-Northumberland County case is being watched closely in the wind-energy industry; what the county negotiates in terms of royalties could impact future projects throughout the United States and beyond. It's much larger than just a local political squabble.

Regardless, cooler heads have prevailed, and that's good. Let's hope the next step is a completed agreement that produces jobs, gets the county its fair share and takes us a step in the right direction in regards to green energy and our business climate.

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