By Lee Bonorden, staff writer

GRAND MEADOW &8212; It&8217;s not just the 61 1.65-megawatt wind turbines that will be up and running in December.

It&8217;s not just the 362,000 megawatt hours of clean energy that will be produced, which is enough to power 36,000 Minnesota homes.

It&8217;s not just the electricity produced by the Prairie Star Wind Farm that will be purchased by Great River Energy, the second-largest wholesale electric power supplier in the state, to help it meet its commitment to derive 20 percent of its electric energy from renewable resources by 2020.

It&8217;s the way Horizon Wind Energy, the wind project developer, plans to share the wealth.

According to Doug Jones, Midwest project director for Horizon, the Community Economic Package will make everyone involved a winner.

Jones said the Prairie Star Wind Farm was an &8220;opportunity to share a dream we had in 2001.&8221;

At Monday&8217;s dedication, Horizon Wind Energy brought together everyone involved in the project.

Peter Tangren, one of the landowners, spoke for all when he said, &8220;This has been an interesting project from the start in 2001.&8221;

&8220;We didn&8217;t always see eye-to-eye, but we managed to work things out,&8221; he said.

He said the 30-year contract signed by Horizon Wind Energy and the landowners included payments that would be adjusted for inflation.

&8220;Four hundred thousand dollars will go to the landowners and $400,000 will go to Mower County, which can pass it along to the townships and school districts,&8221; Tangren said.

Jones said the compensation package is unique. Not only do landowners who have a wind turbine on their land benefit, but so do landowners who don&8217;t.

&8220;Now, everybody gets a piece of the pie,&8221; he said.

Michael Skelly, Horizon&8217;s chief development officer, praised Great River Energy and state legislators who are supportive of renewable energy projects.

That included guest speaker state Sen. Ellen Anderson, who authored the Minnesota Renewable Energy Standard requiring utilities to increase their use of renewable energy by

2025.

Anderson said the initiative will mean jobs, dollars pouring into communities and reducing the state&8217;s dependence on imported energy.

Mower County Commissioner Ray Tucker has been a leading proponent of wind energy.

&8220;The Mower County Board is very supportive of wind energy and has been taking an active role since the development of the McNeilus wind farm near Adams,&8221; he said.

&8220;This is an exciting time for all of us,&8221; Tucker said, &8220;and another crop for the ag people to collect from.&8221;