Ottawa County, MI - People are typically in favor of the idea of wind energy - until they're faced with the reality of gigantic, utility-sized turbines erected in their community.

With utilities exploring potential wind power facilities in Ottawa and Allegan counties, a new study will give communities both sides of the blustery subject.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm for it, but when they actually start going up in the community there can be the potential for NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude," said Erik Nordman, principal investigator for the wind power study. "People will say ‘Oh yeah, wind power is great, but put it somewhere else.'"

Four Grand Valley State University faculty members, including Nordman, have been awarded $140,000 from Michigan Sea Grant to examine environmental, social, economic, aesthetic and policy concerns regarding the issue.

Wind power, and the vast turbines that come with it, has somewhat of a history of creating tension in communities.

In the most famous case, a potential wind farm to be built off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts stirred up enough controversy to fill up a book, titled "Cape Wind."

Nordman said the conflict has "paralyzed the community" and has "gotten really ugly," which is what he and his team hopes to avoid by conducting their research.

"It's going to be a contentious issue," said Norman, GVSU's natural resources management program coordinator. "We don't want to have a paralyzing conflict over this sort of thing."

While there are definite environmental advantages to wind power, the study will explore its potential negative impact on tourism, fishing, migratory paths of birds and other aspects of an area.

On June 1, the team began working with existing literature and will spend much of this summer gathering baseline information. Next summer, the group will reach out to the public through townhall meetings.

The study is expected to be complete in May 2011.

"We want enthusiastic participation," Nordman said. "But we don't want it to get out of control either."

The study will explore coastal wind energy in Ottawa, Allegan, Muskegon and Oceana counties both on land and in water, he said.

Nordman is joined by John Koches, senior program manager at Annis Water Resources Institute, Kurt Thompson, AWRI research associate, and Paul Isley, GVSU associate economics professor. GVSU graduate student Stuart Kramer will join the team this fall.

"We don't want to tell people, ‘Yes you can put it there, or no, you can't put it there,'" Nordman said. "We want to provide them with the information so they can make these decisions."