Offshore Wind Wire

By Peter Brennan

An offshore wind farm proposal was met Wednesday with an angry response from audience members in the West Michigan town of Hart, the Muskegon Chronicle reported.

Scandia Offshore Wind presented its proposal for a 250 megawatt wind farm four miles off the coast of Pentwater, MI, at the meeting in Oceana County. According to the Chronicle, the crowd of roughly 600 was 75% opposed to the proposal, and went so far as to jeer Scandia lobbyist and former Oceana county legislator Bill Bobier from the stage during his presentation.

This crowd reaction comes in stark contrast to that of audience members at a previous informational meeting roughly 40 miles south in Muskegon, MI, which was also covered by the Chronicle. Using electronic voting equipment, the crowd in Muskegon voted 62% in favor of offshore wind farms in Lake Michigan, although they were not presented with a specific proposal. However, Scandia had proposed a 500 megawatt wind farm with 50 to 100 turbines off the coast of Grand Haven, near the border of Muskegon and Ottawa counties, and that proposal was well known to meeting attendees.

Winning public support is important to Scandia, and project manager Harold Dirdal has said he will respect the counties’ decisions if they do not want to host the wind farm.  Scandia has already entered talks with Mason, Oceana, Muskegon and Ottawa counties, all of which border a part of Lake Michigan that was rated as “most favorable” for wind turbine development by the Great Lakes Offshore Wind (GLOW) Council.  Scandia subsequently ruled out Mason County after county commissioners took issue with how the 450 foot tall turbines would look when viewed from the shore.  The company may face a similar reality in Oceana.

The GLOW Council, appointed by the governor in 2009 and tasked with identifying the best potential areas for offshore wind turbines while protecting the Great Lakes bottomlands, is set to release its final report this fall.  That report is expected to recommend legislation that could lead to a streamlined permitting process for offshore wind projects in the Michigan-controlled waters of the Great Lakes.  Several developers have expressed interest in the area but if Scandia has a site in mind, a proposal in hand and a county on board, the company could find itself uniquely situated to take advantage of a streamlined permitting process.

With more than 100 companies already providing parts to wind turbine manufacturers, Michigan is well poised to become the first state in the Great Lakes region to harness the power of offshore wind.  As evidenced by the recent meetings, this will only happen if residents can be convinced that a view of windmills is acceptable.  Similar to the arguments playing out on the East Coast, the biggest hurdle for a Great Lakes offshore wind farm seems to be the willingness of residents to accept an altered view.