January 23, 2024
Ohio

All One Energy wind turbines shut down after blade falls off turbine near Findlay

Published: Jan. 22, 2024 at 13abc.com

Just before noon Monday, a blade on a wind turbine in Allen Township fell off.

According to a statement from One Energy, the turbine belongs to the company and fell at 11:55 a.m. Monday.

One Energy officials say the blade fell directly to the ground below and caused no further damage or injuries. Personnel with the energy company were on the site within minutes to perform an inspection of the site and turbine.

Jereme Kent, One Energy’s CEO, spoke to 13 Action News Monday night.

“This is an extremely rare occurrence to have happen, I’ve never seen in my near 20-year career in the wind industry in a site that I was on,” said Kent.

Officials say one blade is about 140 feet long.

According to the statement from the company, all wind turbines owned by One Energy have been shut down while an investigation is underway.

But residents aren’t happy.

In fact, a small crowd gathered outside their cars in front of the site Monday night.

Zoie Zirger said she’s worried about her kids’ safety in the future.

“It’s a huge safety hazard, I don’t want my kids growing up around this,” said Zirger.

And with talks in the works to expand the turbine population in Allen Township, it has residents like Daniel Pritt, worried.

“The property value goes down when something like this goes up, and they are thinking of building bigger and larger units that could go further and injure someone,” said Pritt.

Kent said the company is working to determine the cause of the incident, but followed up with investigations like this can take time.

But, Kent said they want to provide full transparency to the public, and will keep us updated when they learn more.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/01/23/all-one-energy-wind-turbines-shut-down-after-blade-falls-off-turbine-near-findlay/