Wind Energy Discussion Van Wert County Economic Development June 22, Blue Creek Overview 2. Regulatory environment in Ohio

Blue Creek Wind Farm 152 wind turbines –Gamesa G MW on 100m towers Approx $600M investment Construction started September 2010 Should go online in December 2011 Approx $1.1 million in annual lease payments Approx $2.7 million/year in local property tax revenue 114 turbines in Van Wert County, 38 in Paulding new permanent jobs 2

Our Three Projects 4

Blue Creek – up to 350 MW (175 turbines) Prairie Creek – 200 MW (100 turbines) –North of Ohio Route 114 Dog Creek – 300 MW (150 turbines) –East of U.S. Route 127 Strong interconnection positions for all three. Total investment: approx $1.7 Billion 5

Doing Business in Ohio Permits – the OPSB, Federal, local SB 221 (2008) – Portfolio Standard SB 232 (2010) – Property Taxes 6

Ohio Power Siting Board Division of PUCO, issues CECPNs 2008 rules to govern wind farms > 5 MW Blue Creek Timeline –Dec 21, 2009 filing of 3,000+ page application –April 2010 supplemental filing with re-designed project –July 15, 2010 Stipulation reached with Staff –August 23, 2010 CECPN issued –September 22, 2010 Start of Construction approved Thorough, centralized process 7

Federal and local permits Federal –FAA –ACOE Local –Officially, none –Road Agreement –Regular communication with townships and counties 8

SB 221 (2008) Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard (“RPS” elsewhere) 25% by 2025: 12.5% renewable, 12.5% advanced –2.5% by 2014, then increases of 1% per year –0.5% “carve-out” for solar energy 50% in-state requirement Created a market for renewable energy in OH –Led us to move project plans from IN to OH Adds long-term price stability to OH market –Fixed prices at 5-8 cents/kW-hr for 20 years 9

SB 232 (2010) PILOT for personal property taxes Vital for capital-intensive wind projects Replaced rates of up to $40k/MW/yr with $9k/MW/yr Clarified sales tax exemption for energy conversion equip. Need County-level approval Need to hire >50% Ohio-domiciled employees –$6k if >75%, $7k if >60%, $8k >50% Other reqs: educational partnership, emergency responders, road repairs, sell to OH utilities 2 year term, but current budget bill includes 3 yr extension 10

SB 232 (2010) relative to adj. states 11

SB 232 (2010) local benefit 12 Blue Creek in VW County: 114 x 2.0 MW turbines $9k/MW = $2,052,000 new rev/year = top 14 current taxpayers combined

Local Benefits of Blue Creek and Timber Road II 13 Peak construction jobs: 495 New permanent jobs: 30 NW Ohio vendors/suppliers to the projects: 40 Total spending on local contracts: $21.3 M Total local spending in April by out of state workers: $100,000 Combined annual local taxes: $3.6 M Combined annual landowner payments: $2.6 M To-date local contributions: $145,000 Vantage contributions over 20 years: $325,000

Contact information E Main St, Van Wert