Cuyahoga County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $1 million contract to study whether winds off of Lake Erie can provide Northeast Ohio with power and jobs. The project will help determine the cost-effectiveness, funding sources and benefits of building up to 10 wind turbines off the shore of downtown Cleveland. The goal is to generate up to 20 megawatts of power for the city and county. That's enough power for 6,000 homes.

Jefferson Township voters may get a say on how they feel about the township’s current wind turbine zoning ordinance if a Friday decision of the Logan County Election Board withstands any other legal challenges. Following a three-hour public hearing, Election Board Chairwoman Ann Beck read a two-page written decision in which the board rejected a challenge by township landowners to the issue being placed on the March 4 ballot. “I think they found the only way they could,” township resident and wind turbine opponent Keith Nason said. “Now the voters will get to have their say as they should.”

Jefferson Township voters may not get to decide whether they like the new wind turbine zoning ordinance after a group of pro-wind landowners challenged a petition to place the issue on the March ballot. Lawyers on Wednesday filed a ninepage motion asking the Logan County Board of Elections to nullify a petition containing the names of hundreds of voters because of errors in how it was submitted. Residents circulated the petition following the township trustees' failure on Sept. 19 to override a zoning resolution proposed by the wind proponents. Susan Reames, who lives on County Road 5 and helped circulate the petitions, said she believes there needs to be more community input into the final ordinance.

Wind energy development projects, like the wind turbine power projects slated for Champaign County, will not be immediately deterred despite President Bush signing legislation Wednesday that omits tax breaks for renewable energy resources. Everpower Renewables, a New York-based wind energy developer, hopes other opportunities will become available after the president signed the bill that did not renew a production credit for renewable energy ..."Without those available, it would definitely change the environment in which we're working," he said, adding that the company had hoped other incentives would have been added if the tax credit was cut.

Comments of support and opposition were voiced Monday night about two proposed wind turbine zoning amendments — one of which was recommended for acceptance and the other for rejection. The Union Township Zoning Commission recommended that township trustees accept a proposal it drafted and reject a proposal submitted by Union Neighbors United, a group of residents concerned about wind energy development zoning issues. "If we put something on the books today it's not an end, it's a start," commission member Steve Bricher said. "Sitting here today, we have no guidelines for (wind turbine) placement."

Inconsistency with regulating wind turbines doesn't end with zoning. The county Building Department requires construction plans certified by an Ohio engineer before it issues a permit; Canton doesn't. The county's requirement could add another $5,000 in expenses because most wind turbines are shipped from outside Ohio or the country and do not contain plans certified by an Ohio engineer. "I don't want to stop anybody from building what they want, but it's my obligation under law to enforce the requirements of the code," said Stark Building Official Ed Stetz. He said wind turbines exceed residential standards so they must be regulated by the Ohio commercial building codes that require a professional designer's seal.

A regional advisory board recommended officials wait for more information before amending zoning restrictions to allow for wind turbines to be built in this Champaign County township. The Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission, a West Liberty-based advisory panel, recommended the Union Township Zoning Commission reject two zoning amendments it submitted - one from the commission itself and one from Union Neighbors United, a group of township residents concerned about wind turbine development.

Subtle changes buried in an energy bill plotting the future of Ohioans' electricity rates guarantee that today's prices will never fall and make it nearly impossible for producers of green power to gain a foothold in the state. The amendments were added by the Ohio Senate to Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed energy bill, which the Ohio House has scheduled to debate at the leisurely pace of one hearing a week into the new year. Strickland, a Democrat, had asked the Republican-led General Assembly to pass the bill by Dec. 31, which now appears unlikely.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's energy bill is on its way to the Ohio House of Representatives after the Senate unanimously passed an amended version Wednesday. Substitute Senate Bill 221 generally affirms the major tenets of Strickland's Energy, Jobs and Progress for Ohio plan, which includes creating a hybrid approach to regulating prices when rates set by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio expire at the end of 2008, and growing the state's investment in eco-friendly energy sources. ...While upholding most of Strickland's proposals aimed at increasing the state's investment in advanced and renewable energy, the senate bill puts a 3 percent cap on consumers' costs in making the shift.

Bowling Green's former utilities director, Daryl Stockberger, has been lauded by numerous groups and public officials for getting Ohio's first four commercial-sized wind turbines built just west of the city. ...So what happened Oct. 1 when push came to shove - when Bowling Green City Council felt the city needed to lock itself into a long-term contract for its largest source of power? It aligned itself with coal. ...AMP-Ohio is pursuing a new coal-fired power plant because it is legally obligated to provide a reliable stream of what's known as "baseload" electricity, Mr. Carson said. That's power that can be pulled off the grid 24 hours a day. Wind and solar power are supplemental sources..."Until you find renewable fuels you can use to make baseload [electricity], an energy-consumptive society like ours is going to have to do the best it can," Mr. Scherer said.

A group with varied opinions on wind energy development in Champaign County expressed their interests and concerns about wind turbines during the first Wind Turbine Study Group meeting Tuesday. The five-member group was created by the Champaign County Prosecutor's Office, with Prosecutor Nick Selvaggio serving as a mediator. Group member Julie Johnson, of Union Neighbors United, read a list of concerns she has with wind turbines being built in Union Twp.

The prosecutor's office will facilitate a weekly meeting to provide open discussion about the effects wind energy development could have on Champaign County. ... "Our approach is comprehensive and we're trying to make sure we understand the impact of these propositions," Shokouhi said.

More proposals for wind turbine zoning regulations within Union Twp. were discussed Wednesday night. ...The commission decided to wait to vote on the proposal until a completed draft has been compiled and until the Wind Turbine Study Group - a new group created by the county prosecutor's office to examine the affects of wind energy development in the county - has had a chance to meet and submit suggestions.

The Champaign County Commissioners voted to support state and local wind energy projects Tuesday. The commissioners unanimously passed a resolution backing renewable energy development in the state and urging Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to set a requirement for 20 percent of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025.

Tour group members took turns being photographed standing in different spots near the blade, trying to get shots in an angle that might adequately show the immensity of the rotor. Once in place, it will span 263 feet in diameter while spinning.

According to a release sent Monday afternoon from the UNU, "Spokesperson Julia Johnson explained that the zoning amendment was withdrawn in order to support and encourage a more deliberate and coordinated assessment of wind turbine regulation in Champaign County." Johnson also said, "Townships in Champaign County are approaching this issue in a disjointed way. Since the time we submitted our zoning amendment, members of the Ohio Wind Working Group and the zoning and a subdivision committee of the Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission have emphasized the need for a county or regional dialog on wind power regulation."

The Logan-Union-Champaign Region Planning Commission - based in East Liberty - reviewed the proposal, which had been passed on from the Union Township Zoning Commission last week for review. The LUC recommended the township zoning commission deny the proposal by Union Neighbors United - the group of township residents opposed to the turbines without more regulations.

No wind turbines are proposed for Clark County, but they could be, Planning Director Shane Farnsworth told the local rural zoning commission on Wednesday. "There's a lot of complexity to this issue," he said.

After the meeting, when asked why the commission was discussing a more permissive proposal than it looked at originally, Runyan explained, "There are two very opposing sides to this; those that want no turbines whatsoever and others that want them because they get compensated very well. We can't please everyone, we just want something that will work for the community." However, Runyan did point out that none of the issues that were decided on by the commission were set in stone. "We are trying to get some general guidelines that we can live with."

A second wind energy company vying for space in Champaign County will continue its pursuit in spite of grant money awarded to a competitor last week. Invenergy, a Chicago-based developer of wind energy products, is one of two companies that has begun the process of measuring wind speed in Union Township and plans to progress toward wind energy development in the area, said Eric Miller, the company's senior development manager. "Our plans have not changed. We're still moving ahead," he said.