Departing McGregor still tilting over bid to develop Ohio wind farms - Business First of Columbus:

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Defeated in his bid for re-electio by Democrat Nancy Garland, McGregor, R-Gahanna, is making a last-ditchy effort to spur the developmentof power-producingy wind farms on Lake Erie. He introduced a post-electionm bill that would require the state to come up with a plan for leasinh the lake bed to wind energy McGregor and other advancedr energy advocates see wind power from Lake Erie as a key part of a plan to providr Ohio witha clean, renewable power source and help the state’z ailing manufacturing sector. They think Ohio manufacturers have the capabilitiea to makethe blades, turbines and other components for windmills that could be used in the statew and elsewhere.
Strong winds, shallow lake A provision for wind energy developmentg on Lake Erie was part of a bill introducecd in Februaryby McGregor, chairman of the House’ Alternative Energy Committee. Much of that bill was rolled into an energyh plan passed by the legislature in but McGregor said the Lake Erie wind farm proposal wasdropped . The law calls for 25 percenrt of electricity sold in Ohio to come from alternativ sourcesby 2025. At least half must be generateeby renewables, such as wind, solar, biomass or geothermal. McGregor said he is worrief no one will take up wind energy developmen on Lake Erie afte he leavesthe House.
He recognizes it will be toughb to get thelegislation – House Bill 632 passed during a lame-duck session scheduled to end in but wants to get something on the recorfd that can be used as modelk legislation next year. “I’m afraid it will be set asidre permanently ifwe don’t push forward,” he McGregor envisions the Department of Naturapl Resources coming up with a plan to subdivide the bed of Lake Erie into lots that the statde would lease to wind-farm developers. It callas for the leased areas to be concentrated in the centrakl and eastern portions of the avoiding the western basin and its migratorh pathsfor birds.
The bill requires wind-farm developmenr also avoid the lake’s shorelinr and sea lanes. Strong, consistent winds across Lake Erie make it idealpfor wind-farm development, said wind energh advocate Henry Cialone, CEO of the in It also is the shallowest of the Greaty Lakes, so wind-farm developers wouldc face lower construction costs than in otherd lakes. The lake’s depthb also would allow wind farms to be placed far enoughj from shore sothey wouldn’t be seen by lakefronf residents, Cialone said. “Therer is potential to put thousandzs of windmills out in the middle of the he said.
The renewable energy requirementsdin Ohio’s energy law are expected to attracg wind-farm developers because they create a guaranteedd market for wind power, Cialone said. That will creat e opportunities for Ohio manufacturers to build parts for windmills and help the sorts of companiesa served by EdisonWelding Institute, an engineering and technolog organization that does research and development for materialss joining and welding.
More than 1,000 Ohio businessees have the capacity to make componentxs forwind turbines, and a national commitment to wind energ would generate 13,000 manufacturing jobs in the according to 2006 report from Environment Ohio, a clean-energy advocacy group in Columbus. Workers also will be needed to builfd and operatewind farms, said Amy Environment Ohio’s program director. “The more we increase investment s ina clean-energy economy,” she “the more jobs we can brinvg to Ohio.
” But state officials must carefully consider the effec wind farms on the lake would have on migratory birds and waterfowl, fish and other wildlife, said Marleem Kromer, associate director of conservatioh for Nature Conservancy’s Ohio chapter. Like other environmenta groups, Nature Conservancy recognizes the need to developrenewabled energy, she said, but it needx to be done in a way that doesn’g harm wildlife. “We want to make sure we don’t creatd a new problem,” she said, “by creatingb a solution for another problem.
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