For the second time in recent months, the Jefferson Township Board of Zoning Appeals has approved a request to build a meteorological tower to measure wind data. The four members present at Tuesday's meeting voted unanimously to allow Roger Brown to install a 197-foot-tall lattice tower on the property he owns along State Route 540. ... In justifying the conditional use, they said the project could be classified as a public service facility that includes various energy-generating structures but does not specifically mention wind turbines or meteorological towers.

Edward Somppi, acting Conneaut city manager, asked council not to act on a proposed land option at the Aug. 25 council meeting. He said there is a lot of work to be done on the project. City leaders said they are seeking help from State Rep. Deborah Newcomb, D-Conneaut, and State Sen. Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard, relating to the wind farm project. "We really haven't done our due diligence," Campbell and it takes us six months (to do the research) we should," he said.

Another suitor has surfaced for city-owned land that could create a wind turbine farm on Conneaut's east side. Property Investment Enterprises of Geneva hopes to meet next week to open discussions about a possible one-year purchase agreement for all the unoccupied land within the East Conneaut Industrial Park, said Michael White, a partner in the business. "(The park land) is a fantastic location," he said. "It has a deep water port, railways and highways. Everything is there. That site is ideal."

Utility-scale wind development is accelerating rapidly in northern Ohio, which experts say offers the greatest potential for large wind farms. At least 17 wind development companies are courting farmers and communities for potential wind farms in the region, says Dale Arnold, director of energy services for the Ohio Farm Bureau.

Interim City Manager Edward Somppi, at Monday's regular meeting, said he is trying to arrange a tour of a wind farm near Lowville, N.Y., a town of about 3,250 people northeast of Syracuse. Council is deciding whether to sell 159 acres within the publicly owned East Conneaut Industrial Park to SGR Site Associates of Willoughby. SGR believes the property, when combined with privately owned land north and south of the city parcel, could be home to as many as 50 gigantic wind turbines.

A proposed wind farm for lakefront property in Conneaut has the endorsement of federal, state and county officials. Some on City Council, however, aren't so sure. SGR Site Associates of Willoughby is in talks with city leaders on the sale of some 150 acres within the city-owned East Conneaut Industrial Park. SGR wants to add the property to other parcels it would then test for their wind-powered electric generating potential. If tests are positive, the land would be marketed to utility companies.

"Western Ohio is seeing a renewed interest in companies taking a look at areas of the state to do energy development. Some companies are large, some are medium-size and some are small but we have identified 17 different energy development companies talking with farmers and offering leasing agreements in Northwest Ohio in the last year," he said. The primary reason Western Ohio is of interest is because the two distribution systems on the eastern half of the nation pass through this region. Though the corridor doesn't have as much wind as other states, it has enough.

For years, there's been lots of talk about building the towering, green-energy wind turbines in lots of places: along the Lake Erie shoreline, in Morrow or Logan counties, maybe even in Hardin County. But while all those locations have been debated, EverPower Renewables has negotiated leases with at least 100 property owners, mostly in eastern Champaign County, for land for the turbines. Now, the New York-based wind-energy developer plans to file two applications with the Ohio Power Siting Board for what, if approved and built, will dwarf Ohio's only other wind farm, a four-turbine project in Bowling Green.

There's a battle brewing along the ridges of Western Ohio. Several wind energy companies might build hundreds of giant turbines to generate electricity. There's support -- but a lot of opposition. Along the glacial ridge above the tiny community of Zanesfield in Logan County, Page Mays built a comfortable home in an idyllic setting. "We went ahead and bought this property and built this house, figuring that we were going to see pretty much what we were going to see," Mays says. "But that ridge over there is where they want to put the wind turbines now. We didn't bargain for that." Touted as the ultimate in clean energy, hundreds of wind turbines may be erected on these hills which are among the highest in the state of Ohio. But the Mayes worry about the effect on their property values, their way of life and their health.

At least two companies are interested in offshore wind development in New York's Great Lakes waters - BQ Energy, which developed Lackawanna's Steel Winds, and AWS Truewind. "I don't think it's inevitable, but I think it's very likely," said Bruce Bailey, AWS Truewind's president. There are significant obstacles and unknowns. ...Installing wind turbines in water can be at least twice as expensive because of the cost of mobilizing marine crews, the specialized nature of the installation equipment and the turbines and the need to move the power onshore, experts say. And that doesn't factor in what would be necessary to deal with the ice that often covers the eastern end of Lake Erie in winter.

Additional wind energy proposed for the Bowling Green area last year will at best be delayed and at worst not occur at all. "It's really at a standstill right now," said Kevin Maynard, director of utilities for Bowling Green. "At this point there does not appear to be anything active on the project, but we certainly are looking at additional wind energy whether it is here in Bowling Green or elsewhere."

Wind turbines proposed for a portion of the East Conneaut Industrial Park would occupy land that now contains wetlands, not property earmarked for commercial growth, interim City Manager Edward Somppi said Thursday. "We wouldn't involve the good, developable land," Somppi said. City officials continue to talk with representatives of SRG Sites Associates of Willoughby, which wants to buy at least 159 acres of the 286-acre park and market it to a company that would install wind turbine generators.

Wind turbine regulations, which are being proposed as more people look into alternative energy sources, are on their way to the Miami County commissioners. If approved by the commission, the regulations reviewed and recommended for approval last week by the county Planning Commission would be added to county zoning regulations. Those regulations are used in townships that don't have separate zoning codes. Jacob Hoover, county planning and zoning director, said current zoning has no rules for the wind turbine generators.

Negotiations are proceeding, but the matter is still very tenuous, members said. ...Last week, council met 90 minutes in executive session to discuss a proposal from SGR Site Associates of Willoughby, which wants to buy 159 acres in the East Conneaut Industrial Park for an undisclosed client. The client is interested in building wind turbine generators on the parcel. Two other landowners adjacent to the park have also been contacted about the project, officials have said. One talking point may be the length of the option granted the buyer. Interim City Manager Edward Somppi said the city is looking at a one-year option on the land.

Council met with interim city manager Edward Somppi to discuss an offer from SGR Site Associates, of Willoughby, which is interested in buying at least 159 acres of the East Conneaut Industrial Park to develop in a wind farm using turbine generators. The closed meeting also included State Rep. Deborah Newcomb of Conneaut and Joseph Mayernick, executive director of Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County. After the executive session ended, Somppi told Council President James Jones that council should set a public information meeting on the company's proposal. Before adjourning the special council meeting, Jones agreed to set the public meeting, but no date was announced.

A sharp drop in stock prices and investor confidence in the global giant Babcock & Brown could have worldwide impact for the business, but a company spokesman said Friday it should not affect plans to develop wind turbines in eastern Logan County. ...Roger Brown, a Bellefontaine resident who has signed a lease with Babcock & Brown to put wind turbines on his Jefferson Township property, said he was not aware of the broader company's financial picture and said he has not been contacted about any plans to slow down or end the local project.

For the first time since talk of wind turbine development began in West Central Ohio several years ago, residents of Logan and Champaign counties got to see a close visual representation of the controversial structures. The designs, which included a map showing 78 proposed turbine locations - 15 in Logan County and the remainder in Champaign - and several photos superimposed with scale wind turbines, gave the 100-plus residents who milled through Everpower Renewables' open house Tuesday at Triad High School a view of the proposed project. ...

EverPower Renewables Corp. is making progress on a proposal that would eventually dot Champaign County with wind turbines, but in the meantime, residents got a chance to ask questions about the project. On Tuesday, June 10, dozens of residents filed into Triad High School, seeking information on the proposal that, if approved, would place between 120 and 150 wind turbines along a ridge that runs along the east side of Champaign County. ...Jim Bartlett, also of Champaign County, said he is not opposed to wind energy in general, but had concerns about how close the turbines would be to his home. Howard Petricoff, legal counsel for the project, said several studies, including the impact on birds and bats in the area, are still being conducted. EverPower will likely submit their application to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio sometime this summer.

All the hand-wringing and fighting between area township officials and residents over wind turbine zoning, including a recent discussion about a moratorium, may well have been an exercise in futility if an amendment attached to the Legislature's annual spending bill gets expected approval in coming days. The amendment, which was introduced by Cincinnati area State Sen. Bill Seitz, would turn responsibility for guiding any wind farm development to the Ohio Power Siting Board, which currently only oversees developments that exceed 50 megawatt generation capacity. It would lower the minimum to 5 megawatts ...

Wind turbines will generate more than electricity in Morrow County if efforts to win the business of alternative energy companies succeed as local officials hope they will. Responding to interest expressed by companies in erecting wind turbines in northern Morrow County, the county board of commissioners recently added zoning regulations for the machines, which typically sit atop 200-to-300-foot-plus towers, said Pat Davies, the county's director of operations. ...Of primary concern for the commissioners was making sure setback regulations from public roads and occupied dwellings protected the county's residents and infrastructure, he said.