An investment partnership of farmers and county economic development groups is planning to build a 150-megawatt wind farm in eastern North Dakota, the first such project in the state to be owned by local investors.

The plan, announced Thursday in a letter of intent to the state Public Service Commission, calls for between 58 and 100 turbines to be built on the border of Griggs and Steele counties near Luverne. M-Power, an entity developed by the Griggs-Steele Empowerment Zone, will partner with utilities, institutional investors and Minnesota firm National Wind to build the site at the end of the year.

The announced plans come on the heels of Tuesday's filing by Florida Power and Light to build a 200-megawatt wind farm with 133 turbines in Barnes County.

If completed, the projects would be a significant expansion of the state's wind resources, Public Service Commissioner Susan Wefald said.

Wefald said the state has about 500 megawatts of wind generation. The addition of 350 megawatts would be a 70 percent increase.

Thirty-five investors from the Griggs-Steele area own the project, while 60 landowners have signed options on their land for it. Warren Enyart, CEO of the Griggs-Steele Empowerment Zone, said the project is an effort to allow small North Dakota investors to enjoy more of the benefits of its state's wind power than previous corporate projects have provided.

"We figured the only way we know how to do that is for the local people to own it," he said.

Enyart said the project will cost about $300 million, with investors kicking in between $1.3 million and $1.6 million. The group is in talks with an institutional investor who would kick in about $148.5 million in exchange for the federal Production Tax Credits its investment would generate. After the credits expire in 10 years, the firm would turn over much of its stake to the local investors.

If this proceeds, the group plans to borrow the additional $150 million needed to complete the project.

The investors intend to retain ownership of two-thirds of the project and sell the remaining third to a partnership of two major utilities. Enyart declined to name the utilities that they're in negotiations with.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)