"With the instability, uncertainty and lack of direction related to the issues pertaining to wind energy throughout the State, the Huron County Board of Commissioners will not schedule any additional wind turbine action on the Board's agenda until there is resolution to these issues," the letter states.

Damrow and county commissioners are hoping that House Bills 5278 and 5279 move closer to the house floor. The bills would set tax rates on wind turbines based upon energy production capacity, with 40 percent of the tax revenues going to the county, 40 percent to the township, and 20 percent to the public school district.

"My understanding is that if they're going to change a depreciation schedule, there's at least some type of study going on," Osentoski said. "... That wasn't done to the best of our understanding. We FOIA'd the state tax commission, and their response was it was just ‘common sense.'"

The resolution, which passed 6-1, is expected to be signed by wind turbine-heavy Sanilac, Gratiot, Mason and Tuscola counties, formalizing what would be known as the Michigan Renewable Energy Collaborative. The counties want to assess wind turbines at a value higher than what the state tax commission recommended last fall.

Wheeler Township is one of a number of townships that have decided the true cash value of wind developments are more adequately determined by the previous ways wind turbines were assessed before the State Tax Commission made changes last fall to lower the amount of revenue local units of government and other entities receive from wind developments.

Originally, Nofs planned on granting wind developers relief from paying industrial personal property taxes. However, after speaking with the area's lawmakers - Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville, and Rep. Kurt Damrow, R-Port Austin - there was a change of heart.

Exelon officials told county planners the company will follow the same format set by DTE Energy, which included a third-party surety bond as well as a corporate guarantee. Exelon officials said the financial assurance it originally offered is the same the company used in other projects. It's not acceptable to the county and the company understands that.

The coalition had been working on obtaining the data the State Tax Commission used last fall when it made the changes that would lower the taxable value of wind turbines. An initial response to a FOIA request seeking "a copy of that research that led to the change" stated that no documentation exists with the Michigan Department of Treasury. In the response to a subsequent FOIA request, Douglas writes, "the basis for change was common sense," because the commission could not find any sales studies for used wind turbines.

As the certainty of steady revenue from local wind developments remains up in the air, a lingering question on the minds of some local officials is just how serious wind developers are about their support for long-term tax revenue for local units of government. "Today, I'd like to ask just what kind of partners they really are," said Rep. Kurt E. Damrow, R-Elkton, on Wednesday.

Wind companies pay personal property taxes for wind developments, and the taxable values are established by the Michigan Tax Commission. Those values decrease each year because of depreciation. And, per an October ruling, there will be a larger than previously established drop in values this year.

A recent personal property tax ruling that will cost Michigan counties millions of dollars in revenue could prove vital for utility companies and energy manufacturers around the state.

But the State Tax Commission changed the tax code in early December so that turbines are now taxed at 80 percent on the first year and that drops to 30 percent within five years, Damrow said. The loss of tax revenue is significant in counties where large wind farms are under development.

Huron County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ron Wruble said the news is "pretty disturbing" as local taxing units will collectively receive $267,077 less in tax revenue from the area's two existing wind developments. Under the old way turbines were taxed, the area would have received $913,585.

County officials on Tuesday pitched a concept of working in concert with wind developers to eliminate uncertainty the Michigan Legislature has created by proposing legislation to eliminate the personal property tax, which is the only tax revenue wind companies pay for wind farms.

Green, who represents the 31st District, which includes Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, Bay and Arenac counties, said he does not believe wind companies will get away with not paying taxes. "There is discussion about different ways of getting local revenue for wind mills if the personal property tax gets written off," he said. Green's comments came after Huron County commissioners on Tuesday expressed concerns about Senate Bill 34 (SB 34), which eliminates all personal property taxes.

In the final few hours, however, there was an attempt by Rep. Jeff Mayes (D-Bangor Chtr. Twp.) to add a provision in legislation that would have exempted all property taxes on wind energy devices. Currently, wind turbines and related property are taxed as personal property with revenue going to local governments. ...no action was taken by the Senate on the legislation.

"If we discovered gold in Huron County, would we invite people in and give them a tax abatement to dig our gold out? Probably not - we'd ask them to leave us a little something behind," Krause said. " ... That person struggling to pay their property taxes ... wind developers should pay the same things that they pay."

Michigan's drive to renewable energy is generating concern about higher electricity prices. The issue: How, and at what price, will utilities or other energy providers build or purchase renewable power to meet a proposed state mandate that 10 percent of power come from renewable sources by 2015? "They really have to start going to town in a short period of time. And doing that, whether they're building or buying, there will be an additional expense that comes with it. And that's going to come back to the ratepayers," said Chuck Hadden, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association.

Some lawmakers want residents to go green - energywise, that is. They’ve proposed giving residents who buy renewable energy an annual $100 tax break.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed a wind energy tax credit that Midland Republican Rep. John Moolenaar proposed. Moolenaar said Friday he hopes state lawmakers and the governor will agree to encourage "renewable energy." He thinks the veto was "more symbolic than anything else," he said. Granholm's veto letter said the state "continues to face enormous fiscal challenges" and should be on solid fiscal footing before offering tax incentives. On Thursday she also vetoed a bill that would have provided a tax incentive to people who donate to umbilical cord stem cell banks and other unrelated tax incentive bills. Another veto killed a bill to give incentives that supporters said were meant to preserve farmland in Michigan.