After years in limbo, major wind project powers up in north Edinburg

NEAR McCOOK — It isn’t hard to guess why renewable energy producer Terra-Gen decided to build a wind turbine farm on the outskirts of northern Edinburg.

The wind was blowing so hard at a ceremony held in the new 17,000-acre facility on North Moorefield Road on Thursday that the ribbon the dignitaries were supposed to cut sometimes threatened to fly off into the air.

However, that didn’t dampen the excitement of the wind farmers.

“It’s an incredible resource,” said Phillip Haddad, Masdar Americas CEO and Terra-Gen board member.

The new facility — Monte Cristo Windpower — aims to harness that resource into an incredible amount of energy.

The 238.5 megawatt facility will generate more than 850 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually, enough to power about 81,000 homes per year.

That, according to Terra-Gen, is enough to power residences in both the cities of Edinburg and Harlingen combined.

Edinburg Mayor Omar Ochoa said that’s a big deal.

“We are a growing community,” he said. “We are starving for services, for resources, for outside investment so that our region can continue to grow. We have a lot of people, we have a lot to offer. There’s a bright future. And without investments like these, it cannot be realized.”

Long limbo

The Monte Cristo project started in 2017 but languished in limbo for years, Terra-Gen Vice President of Development Bill Tower said. 

According to Tower, the lack of transmission capacity and grid constraints made the project almost impossible to finance.

A statewide disaster changed that.

Tower said the state examined the grid after Winter Storm Uri in 2021 and quickly passed transmission upgrades that are supposed to be completed by 2026.

“They’re happening as you can see now,” he said, gesturing to a line of towering transmission lines nearby.

Those transmission lines will transmit power to two corporate buyers who have already contracted to purchase it through long-term agreements.

Once construction became feasible, Terra-Gen started building quickly, clocking 490,000 hours worked without a lost-time incident during construction and transition to operations for Monte Cristo.

The finished facility is only the first phase of a multi-phase project.

Terra-Gen says phase two is already permitted and under development.

Economic infrastructure impact 

Terra-Gen says the Monte Cristo facility has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on local infrastructure and the economy.

During construction, an estimated $10 million was spent with local businesses.

According to Terra-Gen, the Monte Cristo project created about 280 jobs during the height of its construction, though the facility is only anticipated to support eight to 10 permanent technical positions for maintenance and repairs now that it’s built.

However, the facility will continue to have a significant economic impact.

Terra-Gen expects Monte Cristo Windpower to generate more than $100 million in property taxes, landowner payments, and local contributions during the project’s life.

Infrastructure upgrades associated with the project include improvements to over 11 miles of Texas Department of Transportation roads and 25 miles of county roads.

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Commissioner Ellie Torres says the impact of all that investment is vast.

“This is money that stays in our economy and supports local families,” she said.

Landowner perspective 

According to Torres, land leases for the facility will result in over $3 million in annual payments to property owners.

Some of those landowners joined local officials and energy sector employees at the Monte Cristo ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

Ted Prukop, who owns about 100 acres of farmland in the new patch, leased land for a single turbine.

He pointed at it after the ribbon cutting.

“That one’s mine,” he said.

At first, Prukop said, he was reluctant to let Terra-Gen put a turbine on his property.

Bur a healthy payment schedule and relatively minimal disruption warmed him to the project.

“At first, when they approach you, you wonder whether you really want them or not. But then you think, ‘Well, they’re gonna be all around me.’ So you might as well join the party,” he said. “And so far, it’s been a pretty lucrative venture. These guys have done everything they’d say they’d do.”

Prukop, however, says he could see the turbines making it difficult to subdivide and develop land in the long run.

Still, he said, the windmill didn’t take up too much of his cropland, and he thinks they’ll make keeping land under cultivation more economically viable. 

“You lose about maybe half an acre with the road and all,” he said.

Terra-Gen

Monte Cristo Windpower is Terra-Gen’s most productive wind farm, and its second in Texas.

The other facility was built in Big Spring in 1999. 

The San Diego, California-based company was formed in 2007 and has successfully developed over 5,000 megawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage projects throughout the state. 

Last year United Arab Emirates clean energy giant Masdar bought a 50% stake in Terra-Gen.

Igneo Infrastructure Partners, which made an initial investment in Terra-Gen in 2020, retained its 50% stake.