MCLEAN COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — McLean County remains the top wind producer in Illinois.

The county collected over $53 million in property tax payments from wind energy since 2003 with the majority of that money going to local schools.

Professor of Economics at Illinois State University Dr. David Loomis gave a presentation Tuesday morning highlighting the economic benefits produced from wind. He said wind farms supported close to 30,000 construction jobs and 1,300 annual jobs.

Loomis said a pending piece of legislation called the “Path to 100” could add even more jobs.

“It would create 53,000 local jobs during construction,” said Loomis. “I can’t emphasize enough, these are good-paying jobs, especially the construction, the turbine supply impact.”

Loomis said wind turbine technician is the fastest-growing job according to the Illinois Department of Labor.

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