Going with the wind: Tiny Corona hangs its hopes on huge clean-energy projects

Sep. 3—CORONA — A steady stream of locals and workers wearing orange safety vests flowed in and out of the Highway 54 General Store in this small Lincoln County village on Thursday.

It was the lunch hour and Corona's El Corral Cafe was closed due to vacationing owners, so the General Store was hopping.

"We just added pizza a few weeks ago, and that's been going really good," said George Oord, 64, one of the store's six owners. "It's been a big hit. We added wings, too."

Oord said the addition of pizza and wings was done in anticipation of hundreds of people coming into the area to work on a mammoth transmission and wind-energy project.

A groundbreaking ceremony for Pattern Energy's SunZia clean-energy infrastructure project took place Friday just north of Corona. Construction on the project is expected to last three years. Transmission lines will stretch 353 miles, from Torrance County, near Corona, southwest through Valencia, Socorro, Sierra, Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties before continuing another 199 miles into Arizona.

The project means money for Corona, population 129, but it also means giant transmission-line towers and more wind-turbine towers marching across the wide-open spaces in these parts. A project that ended in 2021 put up 377 wind turbine towers in Lincoln, Guadalupe and Torrance counties, and some village residents still have not come to terms with those super-tall structures and their eerily rotating windmill blades.

The new project will add 1,000 wind-turbine towers to the landscape.

"A lot of people are adamantly opposed to it because it hurts the views," said Bill Hignight, 67, another of the General Store's owners and Corona mayor from 2006-2018. "But it provides an opportunity that might not have existed. It provides a boost for our economy. And I am in favor of renewable energy. It's the responsible thing to do."

Oord said the wind-energy project is going to happen, whether people like it or not.

"It's progress," he said.

Most in favor

Sam Seely, 62, grew up between Corona and Roswell. He has lived in Corona since 1999 and been the village's mayor since 2019. He is also the bus contractor for Corona's school.

He said most of Corona is in favor of the wind-energy project because residents know it will help the village's economy.

"There's the small group of people who are against any kind of change, but that's pretty typical of everywhere," he said.

Seely said some people "absolutely despise" the wind towers.

Faith Hignight, Bill's wife, and also an owner of the General Store, is one of those people. Faith, 69, lived her youngest years on a family ranch between Socorro and Truth or Consequences and is an artist who paints landscapes and still lifes.

"I hate them," she says of the wind towers. "They mar the landscape. This country is an inspiration to me because of the colors and the seasons. It hurts me what they have done to it. It will never be the same."

But she concedes that the wind projects will increase the village's tax base.

"And little places like this don't have a lot of resources," she said. "Also, the people involved in the (wind energy) projects are just gracious. They are very aware of the impact of their project on our community. They are very aware of people."

Seely understands people's concerns about the transmission line towers and the wind towers.

"They change the landscape, and the landscape is a big draw in this area," he said. "But they smell better than (oil industry) pumpjacks, and they are a good source of supplemental income for landowners."

Landowners get paid for allowing transmission towers and wind towers on their property. The additional income can mean the difference between a ranch squeezing by in tough times, such as this drought-haunted year, or calling it quits. It can mean the difference between Corona kids leaving for jobs elsewhere or remaining in their hometown.

"It could help kids stay on ranches or find long-term careers in the wind-turbine industry," Seely said.

'Shot in the arm'

Terri Racher is the village clerk, the village treasurer and president of the Corona school board. She said wind-energy companies don't pay property taxes, but their projects generate Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding that helps local governments with vital services such as the maintenance of public schools.

Racher said that money is much needed by Corona's school, which was built in 1965 and has 81 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"We have aging facilities that really need improvements," she said.

Mayor Seely said the SunZia project will vitalize village businesses and "hopefully" create new jobs and make it possible for new businesses to open.

A new laundromat, in fact, is being prepared for opening on Corona's Main Street, which is also U.S. 54.

And Turner Wilson and Penny Harelson, both in their early 60s, recently opened Corona Hardware & Ranch Supply on Main Street. Wilson owns a water-well service company. His grandparents had a ranch about eight miles east of Corona.

Harelson grew up in Los Alamos and considers herself a city girl, but her grandparents were homesteaders.

"We are very rancher-minded because that's our roots," Wilson said. He said he and Harelson felt it was a good time to open a store because of the people and money the wind-energy project will bring into the Corona area.

The store has locks, bolts, motor oil, work gloves, safety equipment, pipe and pipe fittings and much more.

"We carry solar pumps, electric pumps, windmill parts and livestock feed," Wilson said.

He admits to having mixed feelings about the SunZia project.

"It changes the landscape, and I don't particularly like that," he said. "But it's a good shot in the arm for Corona. There have been a few young people who have moved back here and got jobs with the wind people."

Harelson said some ranchers she has talked to are worried about the amount of water the SunZia construction project will swallow.

"But a turbine or two, or 10 or 12, on their land will help them feed their families," she said.

"This will help ranches have a more consistent income," Wilson said. "That may entice young people to come back to ranches, so their parents don't have to sell them."

New blood

The Johnson family has been in business in Corona for more than 30 years. Father Melvin runs the Marathon service station and daughter Monique manages the Corona Mini Mart at the station.

Monique, 39, said business spurred two years ago by the previous wind-turbine project helped the service station and mini mart survive competition from Allsup's stores in Vaughn and Carrizozo.

"We were able to pay off the store during the last project," she said. "When the people working these projects are not here, it's like a ghost town."

Monique, a single mother of four children, said the energy projects have promoted growth in Corona.

"It was getting harder and harder for the school to stay open, for businesses to stay open," she said. "But now, down the road where I live there are three new families. We had not seen young people like that for a long time."

Karissa Murillo, 29, site manager for Blattner Energy, a renewable energy contractor, came to Corona during the last wind-energy project and stayed.

Murillo was born in Deming and grew up in Lordsburg but had never heard of Corona before work introduced her to the village.

"I had probably been past it on the highway but never thought to stop," Murillo said as she enjoyed an ice cream cone at the Highway 54 General Store. "I love it. I love the people. They are funny, they are weird, but they are so great. If I ever needed anything they would help me out. It's just a really tight-knit community."

No vacancies

The SunZia transmission and wind project will create 2,000 construction jobs over the next few years. Where are those people going to live while working in the Corona area?

"They can't all be here in the village," Corona clerk Racher said.

"Wherever they can lay their heads," the General Store's Oord said.

Mayor Seely said there are quite a few vacant houses in Corona.

"Some people are fixing up houses with the idea of renting them or eventually selling," he said.

Jason Gibbs, village deputy clerk, said people with any kind of land in town are putting RV parks on it.

Rhonda Oord, George's wife, is one of the General Store's owners. She and George also own the Corona Motel, the village's only motel, and an RV park.

"When I first bought the motel (several years ago), there were some travelers and a few workers," Rhonda, 65, said. "Now, it's a lot of workers and a few travelers with some hunters mixed in."

You could call the motel fanciful. A couple of large space alien figures hang around outside, and the building's exterior is painted alien green. The motel's nine original rooms are decorated to reflect themes such as Man Cave, Cowboy, Biker, Jungle and Alien. The Oords are constructing Old West-style buildings behind the motel. That will add 15 beds to the site.

"But we can't put a dent in what (wind-energy workers) need here," Rhonda said. She said workers will likely look for places to stay in towns such as Moriarty, Santa Rosa and Carrizozo. Some will commute from Albuquerque, estimated as a 105-mile car trip by one travel website.

Keeping it together

Deputy Clerk Gibbs said Pattern Energy puts money into the Corona community, funding Future Farmers of America projects and making money available to every Corona High School graduate who wishes to continue his or her education. Gibbs said Blattner Energy is kicking money into the community as well.

The son and daughter of Dan Bell, a fifth-generation Corona rancher, benefited from Pattern Energy money during their studies at Eastern New Mexico University. Now both are back on the family ranch, which stretches in every direction out of Corona.

There are no towers on Bell's ranch, but there will be. He said a network of tower-service roads are being cut into his land now.

"I'm sad to see the beautiful scenery change," Bell, 52, said. "That's part of life. Things can't always stay the same."

But he's grateful for the positive impact the wind-energy work is having.

"I am for the help in the local economy and businesses," he said. "The revenue stream has helped keep this family ranch intact, helped it move into the sixth generation."