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L.A. energy firm closes purchase of 68,000 acre Onyx Ranch, Located on north end of Tehachapi/Tejon Wildlife Corridor
The Bakersfield Californian--Friday, Oct 10 2008
http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/576613.html
Escrow on the historic Onyx Ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains between Isabella Lake and Jawbone Canyon has closed. Cole Frates of Renewable Resource Group said the Los Angeles renewable energy company has purchased the 68,000 acre ranch from the Rudnick family, which has owned and operated the ranch for years. Frates did not disclose the price paid for the ranch. But he said the company will spend the next several years working with neighbors, the military, environmentalists and the Kern County Planning Department to develop a wind-energy farm on the eastern ridgelines of the ranch.
The farm could be capable of generating between 300 and 500 megawatts of power, Frates said.
(click on map to enlarge)
The Onyx Ranch is interspersed with federal lands that are well-used by off-roaders. The ranch also contains a portion of the Pacific Crest hiking trail.
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BACKGROUND ON THE BUYER:
http://www.maderaid.com/
Madera irrigation district and Enron dirty deals, Cole Frates involved in Madera-Enron deal; controls company that bought Onyx ranch
http://www.maderaid.com/docs/RRG.JPG
on Renewable Resources Group buying 13,646 acres from Enron-Azurix for $10 million, then selling the land to Madera County as the Madera Ranch Water Bank for $37.5 million in September of 2005.
http://www.sanjoaquinvalley.com/main_frame.php?url=http://www.sanjoaquinvalley.com/media/Articles/MaderaTaxpayersRuling.pdf
Lawsuit was over public review of EIR being too short. Water bank project involves diverting water from the Fresno and San Joaquin rivers and storing the water underneath the Madera Ranch. Plaintiffs are concerned that water will be shipped out of the county to serve development interests further south.
http://www.calwater.ca.gov/Admin_Record/F-001898.pdf
1998-Madera County opposes water bank that is proposed by the feds, state and Trust for Public Land.
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/deadinthewater/california.html
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:4IY-gKr6uHAJ:gifi.stat.ucla.edu/projects/antelope/+madera+water+bank%27&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=19&gl=us
on Azurix selling project to Layne Christenson
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