After hearing from several dozen Michigan residents about the benefits and drawbacks of wind turbines, a state panel said it wants more information about the best places to build wind energy parks.

The Wind Energy Resource Zone Board has tentatively identified four regions in the state -- three spots along Lake Michigan and one in the Thumb -- that would be best for wind energy development with a capacity for up to 4,093 windmills.

But at two public hearings last month, residents who live near two windmill farms in Huron County complained about the noise, flickering shadows and vibrations from the windmills.

They asked the board to consider things like how close windmills can be placed near homes or the lakeshore. If those distances are expanded, that would shrink the number of windmills that could be placed in an area.

So during a meeting Monday, the board decided to ask its consultants to determine what the impact would be to create a setback of 300 or 400 meters -- or 984 to 1,312 feet -- from roadways, instead of the 120 meters -- 393 feet -- used in the original report. In Huron County, the setback from homes is 1,000 feet.

"If we are going to calculate impacts, we have to look at how many acres come out of" wind production, said Joe DeVito, a board member and vice president at Renewable Energy Systems. "If we've got too large of a setback from houses, I can tell you we're not going to do wind in the state."

After getting the additional information, the board is to turn its report over to the Michigan Public Service Commission, which is to make recommendations to the state Legislature on guidelines for the development of wind energy in the state.