September 14, 2011
Wisconsin

Port of Milwaukee wind turbine project to move forward

By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com 14 September 2011

A project to build a wind turbine adjacent to the Port of Milwaukee’s administration building will move forward after a contractor agreed to increase its use of businesses owned by minorities or women.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners gave the project a go-ahead at a meeting Wednesday morning. The board had delayed action on the contract last month because of concerns over participation levels of minority and female businesses.

“We’re excited to see this proejct move forward and we’re glad that the issues the board raised were able to be resolved successfully,” said Matt Howard, the city’s environmental sustainability director.

The low bidder on the project, Kettle View Renewable Energy of Random Lake, offered to boost minority hiring on the project in order to keep the project on track. The vote to approve the contract was unanimous.

Construction of a foundation is expected to start in the coming weeks, with the tower and turbine to be installed in the spring. The photo illustration above gives a sense of what the turbine would look like.

The 154-foot turbine would be located just north of the port administration building on South Lincoln Memorial Drive, west of the Lake Express ferry terminal.

Kettle View was the low bidder among five firms that submitted proposals for the project.

As proposed, a combination of $400,000 in federal renewable-energy stimulus money and grants of up to $100,000 each from the state Focus on Energy Program and We Energies would pay for the wind turbine.

The turbine for the project would be made in Vermont by Northern Power Systems. Kettle View is considering a Wisconsin contractor for the turbine tower, said Erick Shambarger of the city’s environmental sustainability office.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/09/14/port-of-milwaukee-wind-turbine-project-to-move-forward/