A consortium led by Santee Cooper is studying the feasibility of building a wind farm off the Grand Strand.

The public gets its first chance to weigh in on the potential for wind power in South Carolina during a public meeting tonight in Georgetown.

"It's a barometer of sorts," Erika Meyers of the S.C. Energy Office said. "We want to gauge the public's concerns and whether the community is supportive of it."

With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and Santee Cooper, the Palmetto Wind Research Project is spending $430,000 to measure winds a few miles off the Grand Strand.

The group, which also includes Coastal Carolina University, hopes to find a spot offshore with steady winds but close enough to keep costs down. If the buoys find that sweet spot, Santee Cooper says it will spend another $500,000 to $1 million to build a more permanent platform to measure wind speeds at greater heights.

With that information in hand, Santee Cooper would seek financing and government permits for an 80-megawatt wind farm with generators capable of powering 40,000 homes.

Previous studies show South Carolina has a giant reservoir of wind energy a few miles off the coast that could turn giant turbines on towers as tall as the Statue of Liberty. States along the East Coast are working on plans to build wind farms, with one off Cape Cod poised to receive its final permit.

Critics of that project and others say the turbines are eyesores and may harm birds. Supports say their impact on birds is minimal, and that if placed far enough offshore -- generally more than 10 miles -- they're barely visible.

If you go:

Today's meeting is being organized by the Wind Energy Production Farms Feasibility Study Committee and will take place between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Baruch Institute in Georgetown. The committee will submit a report with recommendations to the General Assembly by Jan. 1. Written comments can be e-mailed to Erika Meyers.