April 19, 2014
Letters, New York, Ohio

Offshore wind factories would harm Great Lakes

The Buffalo News | April 19, 2014 | www.buffalonews.com

We have just learned that the Ohio Power Siting Board has ended Lake Erie Energy Development Corp.’s hopes of developing a six-turbine offshore wind factory in Lake Erie seven miles northwest of Cleveland. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of hours several of us have each worked to see this worthless project rejected. We hope that this will be the very last time any organization will attempt to place an offshore wind factory in any of the Great Lakes.

This is the second offshore wind project we have helped defeat – the first being the Great Lakes Offshore Wind project targeted for either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario three years ago by the New York Power Authority.

We have been deeply concerned that if LEEDCo was successful in its Lake Erie project, it wouldn’t be long before offshore wind turbines would be infesting Lake Ontario and other Great Lakes. LEEDCo recently met with the U.S. Department of Energy seeking a $47 million grant to be used to help develop its six-turbine project called the Icebreaker. Since LEEDCo needs Ohio Power Siting Board approval for the Icebreaker, it appears that even if the DOE granted LEEDCo the gift, it won’t be able to pursue the project.

The fight for our Great Lakes will continue. Until we find a more efficient energy alternative, greedy corporations will continue their attempts to “buy” our lakes and install these gigantic structures. Offshore wind turbines would be left to rust in our waters long after the stimulus money is gone, along with the companies that manufactured them.

Sharen Trembath

Great Lakes Wind Truth

Angola

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/04/19/offshore-wind-factories-would-harm-great-lakes/