E.On Climate & Renewables paid the attorneys representing Grant County $65,000 for negotiating development agreements with the company.
Local attorneys billed more than $45,000 to the county for their work. Attorneys Kyle Persinger and Phil Stephenson together earned more negotiating the development deal than they charge the county for an entire year’s worth of routine legal services. There is no way to tell exactly how many hours were put into the project because their firm didn’t submit itemized invoices. The county received money from E.On for the legal fees.
Grant County Council President Jim McWhirt, R-At-large, said that was a moot point.
“If it was county funds paying for it, it would have been an issue,” McWhirt said.
As part of E.On’s agreement with the county, the wind energy company gave the county $65,000 to cover expenses associated with preparing development, road-use and decommissioning agreements for its Wildcat Windfarm II project.
Persinger said having one party pay all the legal costs of negotiations is more common in the private sector.
He said E.On paying his fees did not influence him or Stephenson in the course of negotiations.
“We have an obligation to the county,” Persinger said.
Taxpayers won because they didn’t have to pay those legal costs, Persinger, Stephenson and McWhirt all said.
“We had guaranteed the county that it wouldn’t cost them anything,” Stephenson said.
The bills from Spitzer, Herriman, Stephenson, Holderead, Musser & Conner charged $25,380.65 for Persinger’s services, including about $67 for mileage, and $20,000 for Stephenson.
Members of the Grant County Council approved the two bills 4-0 without discussion July 20. Councilman Michael Conner, R-4th District, abstained because he works in the same law firm and members Tresa Baker, R-At-large, and Mike Scott, R-1st District, were absent.
Stephenson said the invoice for his time was somewhat arbitrary because that was the amount left of E.On’s $65,000 after the charges from the Indianapolis law firm of Barnes & Thornburg and Persinger were deducted.
Stephenson said Persinger’s bill was larger because Persinger worked on the road use agreements for the commissioners and attended a few of the lengthy out-of-town meetings.
The two split up meetings with other parties involved to avoid “double-dipping,” Stephenson said.
Barnes & Thornburg billed Grant County $19,619.35 for the 37.3 hours its attorneys spent working on the Wildcat Windfarm II project between Feb. 14 and May 17.
E.On was in negotiations simultaneously with Madison and Tipton counties, which Stephenson said complicated negotiations but ensured that all three governments were treated fairly. He said understanding how wind energy companies operate required a lot of research.
Persinger said one of the key parts of those negotiations was “that no county was getting any better than the other.”
He said the local governments got a good deal.
“Companies are used to governments giving everything away,” Persinger said.
In Grant County, E.On agreed to pay the county $1.2 million over the next four years, which can be spent on other economic development projects. The county gave E.On a 10-year tax abatement on the wind turbines it plans to erect.
Other provisions shield the county from potential tax revenue loss in case state laws change on how wind turbines are assessed; guarantee that county roads will be rebuilt after the construction phase; and require a bond for decommissioning turbines if the project or company fails.
E.On also paid Madison and Tipton counties for legal expenses.
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