National Grid's Geronimo Energy establishes community fund for 200MW Crocker Wind Farm

In celebration of the American Wind Energy Association’s American Wind Week, Geronimo Energy, a National Grid company, announced today that it has established a local charitable giving board, named the Crocker Community Fund Board, for the benefit of the communities connected to the Crocker Wind Farm. Crocker is a 200 megawatt (MW) operational wind energy project located in Clark County, SD. Crocker has executed Virtual Power Purchase Agreements with Walmart and Cargill, utilizes GE turbines, and was constructed by Wanzek Construction.

Crocker began operations in late 2019 and brings economic benefits to the local and state economies. At the peak of construction, Crocker had over 200 construction workers onsite and has since employed 10 full-time employees at its Operations and Maintenance building. Additionally, the project is estimated to produce $18 million in new tax revenue and $24 million in landowner payments during the first 20 years of operations.

Unique to Geronimo, its large-scale operating wind farms further benefit from a charitable fund called Community Funds. The contributions from Community Funds are above and beyond any tax revenue or other economic impacts from Geronimo’s projects and are meant as charitable donations to the local project host communities. To date, Geronimo has initiated thirteen wind farm Community Funds across the nation, resulting in a total commitment of over $9.6 million in charitable donations over the first 20 operational years of these projects.

In Clark County, the Crocker Community Fund will receive an estimated $40,000 per year for a period of 20 years, totaling approximately $800,000 in local charitable funding. The Fund board has been elected and is composed of local landowners in the project footprint, as well as Clark County residents. The Fund donations will be funded by Geronimo and dispersed by the newly elected board to support charitable causes within and near Crocker.

“As a member of the Crocker Community Fund Board, I am excited to see what we can do for our community over the next 20 years with the funds we will receive from Geronimo Energy,” stated Jody Obermeier, a Crocker Community Fund Board member and landowner within the Crocker Wind Farm. “We are in the set-up stages right now as a board and fund. The Crocker Community Fund is going to be a great asset to our small community, and as a board, we will see that the funds are used to have the greatest community impact.”

“We are a community-focused and farmer-friendly company, and our Community Funds are at the heart of this value system,” stated David Reamer, President for Geronimo Energy. “In addition to the economic benefits our projects offer, such as tax revenue and job creation, we are committed to giving back to the host communities where we develop wind farms. We’ve been working in the Clark County area for over a decade, and we couldn’t be more excited to see the Crocker Community Fund established to benefit our neighbors and friends.”

Visit Geronimo's website ​​​​​​www.geronimoenergy.com.