Landowners in southern Fillmore Township could have lease agreements in place within the next two months for a proposed commercial wind energy farm, township officials said Monday. The wind farm would be a few miles south of Tulip City Airport, north of 136th Avenue and east of 60th Street, said Keith Potter, township supervisor. He said there are plenty of large properties in that vicinity for the operation, which could include 35 to 40 wind turbines.

Wind turbines may or may not someday be a tourist attraction in Mason County, but they sure drew a crowd Tuesday. About 125 people crammed into one of Ramada Inn of Ludington’s conference rooms for an open-house-style meeting about a proposed 70-megawatt wind farm in the Manistee National Forest. Many of those in attendance were property owners concerned about having a wind farm so close to their homes. Others were area residents concerned or curious about the proposal and some were wind energy backers interested and enthused about the project.

Positive and negative comments, plus some suggested alternatives, were voiced by residents during the open house hosted by the U.S. Forest Service at Ludington's Ramada Inn. The three-hour event drew a large crowd, hovering around 50 people at various times, that sought information and provided feedback on the plan that would feature 20 to 28 420-foot-tall turbines on the forest land. ...Stanley Wilkosz, a Grand Haven resident who owns property near the proposed site of the wind farm, is concerned about the overall project, especially a proposal that could send overhead power lines through his property. "What I find with these big companies is they want everything and the private landowner gets screwed over," Wilkosz said.

White Pines Wind Farm LLC, a subsidiary of BP Alternative Energy, applied for a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service in hopes of constructing 20 to 28 large wind turbines in the national forest north of Forest Trail in Mason County's Grant Township, just north of Hamlin Lake. ...He estimated the studies for the environmental impact statement would take a year. Then the Huron-Manistee National Forest Service supervisor would decide on the proposal. That decision could be appealed to the regional supervisor in Milwaukee.

Area residents will get their chance next week to learn about and speak on a plan for green energy in one of the state's greenest places. BP Alternative Energy has proposed a 75-acre wind farm for the heart of about 10,000 acres of Manistee National Forest Land in Grant Township. The site is adjacent to the state's only federal wilderness area - the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area.

A commercial wind energy farm that could supply power to thousands of homes is being considered for southeastern Fillmore Township, officials said Monday, Sept. 22. The wind farm would be east of M-40 and could have between 35 to 40 wind turbines, said Ken DeWeerdt, township clerk. ..."It's nothing definite," DeWeerdt said. Fillmore Township hasn't discussed the topic at a township board meeting yet, but officials are supportive of alternative energy. "We have ordinances in effect that will accelerate the installation of the turbines," DeWeerdt said.

The first of 46 windmills was erected Saturday for Noble Thumb I Windpark near Ubly, a project of Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power. ...The project is southeast of the 32-turbine Harvest Wind Farm, which became the state's first commercial wind park last year.

The numbers sound good, but the details still need to be worked out regarding the state's new energy plan passed by the legislature this week. Part of the plan includes a renewable energy standard, which at least one wind turbine developer had hoped for. Rick Wilson, project manager for Heritage Sustainable Energy, said the adopted standard that requires 10 percent of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2015 is "a good standard."

Michigan is the nation's 14th windiest state, according to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Thirty-two wind turbines went into operation in Michigan in 2008, bringing the state total to 35. Two more wind farms are currently being constructed. So Rockford can harness some of that natural power and ... well, not so fast. "We don't usually recommend it in Rockford," said Mark Bauer, owner of Bauer Power in Wayland. The company specializes in the installation of solar and wind energy systems. "The month to month wind speed is too low."

They won't be as tall as some; and they won't power many homes. But by spring, two wind turbines could rise more than 125 feet above the Lakeshore landscape. The Zeeland Board of Public Works is planning to become the first West Michigan utility to bring electric-generating wind turbines online. The effort comes amid a flurry of efforts to turn wind into electricity, from a proposal announced last week that would power thousands of homes in the Manistee area to much smaller efforts such as Zeeland's.

Two months of recording wind data from a 60-meter tower south of Blissfield has officials of Great Lakes Wind LLC feeling encouraged. The company is moving early to lease farm property where commercial wind turbines could eventually be built, said chairman Larry Gould. Work on lining up leases was prompted more by other developers showing interest in a wind project in the area than the preliminary results from weather equipment, he said. ...Wind data available so far all encourages continued exploration of a commercial project, he said. Numbers are confidential at this point, he said.

White Pines Wind Farm, a subsidiary of BP Alternative Energy, has applied for a special land use permit with the U.S. Forest Service to place 20-28 wind turbines, each 420 feet tall, in the forest north of Forest Trail. The road leads from U.S. 31 to the Lake Michigan Recreation Area. Huron-Manistee National Forest spokesman Ken Arbogast said the number of wind turbines depends upon further investigation by the company and the forest services. "Basically it will depend on how many they need to make the project economically viable," Arbogast said.

Michigan's Thumb sprouted the first on-shore commercial wind farm last year. Are windmills over the water next? Saginaw Bay would sport the state's first offshore windmills under a plan by Steve Smiley, the self-described stepfather of wind power in Michigan.

By Friday, Taylor expects to review the latest data from a pair of 50-foot-tall meteorological towers in the city's north and south ends to determine if the city will move ahead on a $3 million plan to install up to five wind turbines as early as next year. The towers, at the northwest corner of Monroe and Ecorse and at Racho near Interstate 75, have been recording wind speed, direction and temperature since installed in August and October.

They were made by more than 80 construction workers who have come to the Ubly area to build the Noble Thumb I Windpark, a project of Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power. The prints lead to 46 holes that have been dug in farm fields in Bingham and Sheridan townships, where the wind usually blows about 15 mph. Each hole will be the site of a 1.5-megawatt General Electric wind turbine, towering more than 300 feet over the skies of Huron County. The development, being constructed by RMT WindConnect of Wisconsin with local and out-of-state contractors, should begin spinning later this year, officials say. It's southeast of the Harvest Wind Farm, a 32-turbine park constructed last year near Elkton by John Deere Wind Energy.

Township Clerk Stephanie VanSickle said that township officials will not have to have any direct votes on the wind farm project. However, the township will make modifications to its zoning ordinance to take care of land use issues created by the large turbine towers. VanSickle said that township officials have not received much negative reaction to the wind project since it publicly surfaced last month.

"This is not your grandfather's windmill," Sweikhardt said of the turbines. He emphasized the necessity for each farmer to have a lawyer look at his or her wind contract before signing. ...The specific legalities are something to consider, as the placement of a potentially 320-foot windmill in the middle of an apple orchard doesn't solely affect the land upon which the turbine sits. Neighbors could feel the affect with land vibrations, the throwing of ice build up by the turbine in the winter and the shadows it casts in the summer. "People don't understand some [turbines] are going to be taller or as tall as the highest building in Grand Rapids," attorney Cliff Bloom said.

Farmers facing pressure to lease their land to competing wind energy companies are hearing a stern message: Get a lawyer. "I want people to know what they're getting into," a Michigan State University professor of agriculture told more than 100 people Tuesday who turned out for a presentation by a farmers' advocacy group. "I'm not anti-wind," David Schweikhardt, a lawyer and expert on wind energy, told farmers and officials from at least six townships. "I'm anti-ignorance."

On June 12 the township voted to adopt a resolution to put a meteorological wind turbine on the Shepard farm, 12089 Phelps Road, Sparta Township. The turbine will test the wind on the ridge for about a year, according to Bonnie Robinson, Sparta Township Clerk. If the wind and environment proves to be an ideal system, the township is looking to put together a proposal that will allow anyone to have a wind turbine, "even if you want to put the roof of your house," Robinson said. Iberdrola Renewables, the leading worldwide wind energy company, is working with farmers and the Sparta Township government to put up the turbines.

The historic DeZwaan windmill at Windmill Island Gardens could soon have a neighbor. In what may be the first step toward development of a wind turbine at the downtown attraction, city officials are discussing placing a nearly 200-foot pole northwest of the windmill to collect wind and other weather information. ...Current city ordinances limit the height of a pole to 165 feet, and such poles require a conditional use approval.