County officials in Tazewell recently meet to discuss how the windmills could be taxed to help them make their decision on welcoming windmills into the county.

Bringing windmills to Tazewell could benefit homeowners by providing a new energy source, but also an opportunity for jobs.

Hopefully Dominion/BP Wind Energy, county officials and residents can work together for a solution.

"A key question about the financial impact of windmills on the county’s finances was answered at the Dec. 10 meeting of the planning commission.

Supervisor Seth White, who also serves on the planning commission, distributed a letter from Dominion\BP Wind Energy outlaying how the windmills could be taxed. The letter was signed by Emil Avram, director of business development for Dominion and Jim Madden business developer for BP Wind Energy.

The letter summarized the company’s view of the state and county tax code as they applied to the asset valuation process and the applicable tax rates associated with the assets.

White said the company made some major assumptions because wind farms were new to the state and there was no precedent to go on. The letter stated the company planned to depreciate the windmills over a 25 year period and said the State Corporation Commission assesses electric generating equipment in January of each year.

The company used the example of a 60 megawatt Wind Farm that cost $120 million to build. They classified roads and buildings, substations and transmission lines and the foundations and towers as real property and estimated the value at $40 million.

The collection system, Nacelles and Blades and transportation\delivery costs would be classified tangible personal property and valued at $80 million.  They said the SCC’s tax division would ultimately decide the useful life of the personal property but 20-25 years was the most common for that type of equipment.

In the analysis the company used straight line depreciation with a ceiling of 90 percent of the initial fair market value and a floor of 25 percent. They attached a copy of the state code outlining how electric generating facilities are treated for tax purposes."

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