Invenergy and WPPI Energy agreed to move forward on plans to build the 132-megawatt (MW) Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center in Henry County, Ill.

Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center is scheduled to begin commercial operation by mid-2018 and will create up to six full-time jobs once operational.

WPPI Energy agreed to a power purchase agreement to buy electricity from the facility through mid-2040 to serve its 51 member utilities and their customers across Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and Iowa.

WPPI Energy is a not-for-profit, regional power company serving 51 locally owned electric utilities.

In late July, business units of American Electric Power (AEP) announced plans to buy a 2,000 MW wind farm being built by Invenergy in the western panhandle of Oklahoma. The project scope includes a 350-mile-long extra-high voltage power line to deliver the renewable energy to customers. AEP's utility subsidiaries Public Service Co. of Oklahoma and Southwestern Electric Power Co. planned to file with regulators for approvals.