The DeWitt City Council doesn't expect a lot of wind turbines to be raised in the next month or so, but that didn't stop it from placing a 90-day moratorium on the construction of the structures, said city administrator Brian Vick.

After participating in a planning and zoning training session at Michigan State University last month, Vick said he and other city officials are trying to keep ahead of the curve in regards to renewable energy. That means pausing to update ordinances related to Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS). The idea behind WECS is converting the energy in moving air to electrical energy.

"As more and more people and more and more businesses and entrepreneurs look at renewable energy it was suggested we look at our ordinance and determine if changes are necessary," said Vick. "Ultimately, there are. We are pretty silent as far as regulations and allowing them."

The ordinance would speak to various categories such as height, safety setbacks, and even location in relation to plane flight and bird flight patterns, he said.

"There are just a number of categories will want to look at. And the planner has provided a draft ordinance for the planning commission to take a look at," said Vick.

The planning commission began discussions about the new ordinance at its July 31 meeting. The city council should have something approved by the end of the moratorium period, which started July 21, said Vick.

He said he has already had one resident call and ask basic questions about the raising of such a structure.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced a goal of obtaining 6 percent of U.S. electricity from wind by 2020 - a goal that is consistent with the current rate of growth of wind energy nationwide.

As public demand for clean energy grows, and as the cost of producing energy from the wind continues to decline, it is likely that wind energy will provide a growing portion of the nation's energy supply, said the group on its Web site.