Wind Power News: Ohio
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Turbines taken down temporarily at Perkins High School
The three wind turbines at Perkins High School, which have been deactivated ever since high winds caused one to shed its blades in February, have been dismantled. School officials say it’s temporary, and the turbines will be put back up after brakes are installed to prevent the turbines from turning too fast in high winds. The turbines will also receive smaller blades.
Sandusky Register
27 June 2009
Commissioners pass resolution to do wind study at Ashtabula County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
From the high elevation at the Ashtabula County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Dibble Road, Ashtabula County commissioner Daniel Claypool can see the dark-blue strip of Lake Erie two miles to the north and feel its brisk breezes
Lately, Claypool has been wondering if this parcel of county-owned land would be a good place to set up a few wind turbines that could capture that wind and convert it into electricity to run the county’s three operations at this crossroads: the . . .
Wind energy is unreliable in emergency
I respond to the Associated Press article “Watt an idea!” in the June 7 Dispatch. It took me a few days before I could compose myself enough to form a cogent thought.
There are approximately 5,000 power dispatchers across the country. When one of these dispatchers gets a distress call from a power plant operator that a 500-milliwatt generator is going off-line due to a mechanical problem, the dispatcher wields an enormous amount of power by immediately scheduling and replacing 500 . . .
Wind turbine noise bad for animals
“I don’t even hear them. If you’re standing right under it, you can hear a tiny buzz,” said a Sheffield resident, referring to two recently assembled lakefront wind turbines.
Not so for herds of Australian sheep that died from insomnia caused by wind turbine noise. Wind turbines don’t make good neighbors to equestrian riding and breeding businesses, either. Noise from the blades can spook and irritate horses, cause harm to riders and disrupt training.
What about the impact on flocks of birds . . .
Monroe wind power could face challenges
Monroe has high hopes of becoming a big player in the nation’s wind-energy boom someday because of a parts manufacturer that has agreed to build a $19 million factory there.
But the greater Monroe area and others along western Lake Erie face an obstacle to hosting a large number of the commercial or utility-scale wind turbines.
A report issued this month by an 11-member board created by the Michigan Public Service Commission identified four regions as Michigan’s best for harnessing wind. None . . .
Wind turbines could be on Great Lakes in 3 years
The first wind turbine development on the Great Lakes could be built within three years or so, experts on offshore wind power said during a conference Wednesday in Milwaukee.
The first project is expected to consist of three to five turbines just off the shore of Cleveland in Lake Erie.
The project is being pushed by the Cuyahoga County government as an economic development strategy to help boost the development of a wind-power manufacturing industry in a state that’s been hit hard . . .
North Royalton encourages FirstEnergy to stress wind turbine power
North Royalton City Council wants to jump-start the region’s potential wind turbine industry.
Council members are tweaking a proposed resolution that urges FirstEnergy Corp. to use wind power to provide electric service to the city.
Council President Vincent A. Gentile introduced the resolution in the Earth Energy Environment Committee, which had its inaugural meeting Monday night.
The measure encourages FirstEnergy to provide electric to the city using 50 percent wind power over the next five years, with 100 percent wind power available in . . .
Wind farm project gains support
MANSFIELD — Richland and Crawford County officials voiced concerns but offered support for a future wind farm during Wednesday’s meeting with an alternative energy company.
David Hettich, vice president of business development with Gary Energetics (of Denver, Colo.), and colleagues sought comments regarding Phase 1 of the wind project.
“Why are we here? We need new sources of energy,” Hettich said in a conference room at the Braintree Center for Business Innovation. “This is a very large project, and we need public . . .
Wind-power industry threatened by Ohio's tax structure
Ohio’s tax structure could blow holes in the state’s plan to become a major wind energy center, a national wind trade group says.
In a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland, the American Wind Energy Association argues that Ohio’s tangible personal property tax on electric utilities could drive wind developers to neighboring states.
Other Ohio businesses no longer pay tangible personal property taxes, which are imposed on a utility’s equipment, such as generators and wires.
Hans Detweiler, the association’s manager of state legislation and . . .
Interest whirls around wind power
It stands to be known whether the citizens and landowners turned out at Tuesday evening’s meeting because of optimism or skepticism — or some combination of both. But they really did turn out.
The standing-room-only crowd of about 80 spectators was described as “beyond my wildest expectation” by Chris Schock, executive director of the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission.
Paul Hunter, a key organizer of the informational meeting, said, “You (the News Journal) asked a question: ‘will there be interest?’ Well, ta-da!”
The . . .
