"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.

The Township Board made progress in setting rules for wind turbines. The board approved an ordinance regulating meteorological evaluation towers, which measure wind and collect other data to determine the practicality of installing electricity-generating wind turbines. The Planning Commission is working on an ordinance for the wind turbines.

To deal with possible new requests, the Planning Commission will look at a proposed ordinance governing wind energy systems. Currently, wind energy systems are allowed only as an accessory use and may be no more than 15 feet tall. Planning director Terry Schweitzer said those rules really limit the use of any wind system. The city has received inquiries for wind systems ..."We have seen one industrial business interested, but they would be hamstrung with our current regulations," Schweitzer said.

A meteorological tower and wind-metering equipment could be in the air within days, said the chairman of a local start-up company organizing a power-generating venture. Several individuals put up money to buy a 60-meter tower after plans to install wind meters on a cellular telephone tower east of Blissfield were shelved, said Larry Gould, chairman of Great Lakes L.L.C. The tower and metering equipment have been delivered, he said, and could be set up within days. It will be raised at a leased site in Ogden Township off Thompson Highway south of Weston Road, he said. "The committee is getting anxious. They want to see something up and recording the wind," Gould said.

A draft ordinance that would allow wind turbines for energy production is one step closer to getting the "green" light in Norton Shores. During a work session Tuesday night, the city council gave administrators the nod to have the planning commission review the ordinance, which could be adopted this summer. If the ordinance is approved, residential and commercial turbines would be allowed to operate inside the city for the first time. Right now, the city's zoning books do not specifically address turbines, so they are not allowed, said Community Development Director Dick Maher. ...Maher said the purpose of the ordinance is to give residents and businesses the ability to install turbines while giving them rules to follow. He said "a couple businesses in town" have inquired about whether they could use a turbine to offset energy costs.

Whenever the Senate energy committee in Lansing meets, the place is packed. Utilities, customers supporting "green" and renewable energy legislation, entrepreneurs promoting alternative energy, and people of every stripe in between jam the meeting room. Everyone is keenly interested in finding out what the Senate plans to do, but if anyone knows anything, they're not saying a word.

As the nation continues to look toward cleaner and more renewable energy sources to fuel electricity, wind energy is becoming a more viable option, and recent data suggests that Northern Michigan’s hilly terrain and proximity to the Great Lakes make it an ideal area to harvest this inextinguishable source of power. ...“The common lifestyle people only think about their energy source when they pay their bill once a month, and if their power ever goes out,” he said. “More expensive energy will get people to conserve more, and use power more wisely. We can still live a good life this way.” Yet, wind energy is not without its detractors — some residents complain of the low hum produced by the blades.

It's still in the preliminary stages...but a northern Michigan power company is researching a Charlevoix County community as the possible home to a wind turbine site. Traverse City Light and Power recently signed a real estate option and wind easement contract that could potentially lead to the construction of several wind turbines in Norwood Township. "... the planning commission has appointed a sub committee to work on the creation of that [ordinance] so we can get the towers permitted properly in our township," says Norwood Township supervisor Tim Boyko.

Committee member Glendon Brown presented the research on wind power in response to inquiries from individuals asking why the city has not considered this as a power source. The city has been exploring various energy options to meet increasing electric demands because the city power plant is 50 years old. The city wants to meet energy needs for current and future customers. "This is a preliminary assessment, not a final answer," Brown told committee members. He offered a wide range of information, including wind turbine performance specifications, turbine construction costs, wind power classifications and a summary of local wind data.

The board amended the Mason County Zoning Ordinance at its monthly meeting and eased the regulation on the amount of noise large or industrial wind turbines can produce. The amendment allowed an increase in noise from 45 to 55 decibels - a level still lower than normal conversation, which the county says and several Web sites concur, falls at about 60 to 70 decibels. Although there are currently no large industrial wind turbines in Mason County, the county's Zoning and Building Director Mary Reilly said several companies are looking ...

The rumors have blown in the wind for several years -- that green power companies were eyeing farmland known as The Ridge along the border of Kent and Ottawa counties for major wind farms. Two companies quietly have competed against each other to buy leases for wind turbines that would tower above the apple trees and pastures in Sparta and Chester townships. They could be tall enough to be seen from downtown Grand Rapids. ...Michigan is the 14th windiest state in the continental U.S. and is second to Minnesota in wind potential among the Great Lakes states. But it's near the bottom nationally in turning it into electricity.

For at least several months, Iberdrola and Heritage Sustainable Energy of Traverse City have been securing wind rights leases in several townships in northern Kent and Ottawa counties. "In the Fruit Ridge area, we've leased somewhere in the vicinity of about 4,000 acres," said Rick Wilson, project coordinator for Heritage Sustainable Energy and its sister company, Wind Energy Partners. "We're in the very early stages of investigating the wind energy development potential in that area," added Wilson. The area includes about three of the townships on the Kent-Ottawa county line. Wilson said Heritage Sustainable Energy has not yet sought permits for erecting test towers but is planning to do so for one or two towers.

As state legislators and the governor grapple with alternative energy policies governing such technologies as wind turbines, no doubt local officials also will face several thorny wind issues. Cities, villages and townships will weigh in through their zoning ordinances as the needs and rights of property owners are balanced through local land-use rules. Local governments have the power to promote or eliminate wind projects in their communities, Brion Dickens told a Muskegon Countywide planning commission meeting earlier this week. ... "If you don't want a wind project in your community, put it in your zoning," Dickens told Muskegon area public officials. ..."This is a new beast for a lot of people, especially those in Michigan," Dickens told the Muskegon planners of the land rent payments, construction jobs and tax-base benefits of wind farms. "Some areas might not want wind turbines."

"Offshore (wind turbine sites) can be a can of worms," said Dickens, who is part of the Michigan wind outreach team from the Michigan Energy Office. "We don't have to go there yet. There are a lot of inland areas that we can use for wind development." Dickens might not want to "go there," but there are plenty of people considering the huge potential for wind turbine development on Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. ...From an environmental standpoint, a lot more study is needed, according to Alan Steinman, director of the GVSU Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon. He suggests looking at the affects of such off-shore wind farms on birds and fish.

Industry analyst Emerging Energy Research projects wind energy generation in the United States to grow nearly five-fold by 2015. But a Bay City company that built thousands of wind-turbine blades found the industry holds perils as well as promise. ...A variety of reasons caused the company to exit the business, President and CEO Robert Monroe said, and it's unlikely to resume making blades. "It was way too much of a boom-bust for us," Monroe recalled. "We were taking on people who had the savvy to make blades, we'd come up to speed and then all of the sudden we were laying people off. So it was very cyclical." ...And even if turbine makers decide to manufacture in Michigan, they may only be active for a limited time, Monroe believes. "So many people want to put up blades, but once Michigan is saturated, those jobs will go away," he said.

A noise control consultant and acoustics expert urged planning commissioners here to create their own wind turbine ordinance that's tailored to the local community and more restrictive than the state's guidelines. Roughly 40 area residents, as well as some DTE Energy representatives, turned out for Wednesday's Lake Township Planning Commission meeting featuring a presentation by Richard R. James, owner of the Okemos-based E-Coustic Solutions. ...Township officials asked James to come to a meeting and share some of his expertise because they currently are conducting research for a wind overlay ordinance. Lake Township instituted a one-year moratorium on any wind farm developments during the township board's March meeting, said Lake Township Cleric and Planning Commissioner Valerie McCallum.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm last week toured the 32-turbine Harvest Wind Farm between Pigeon and Elkton in Huron County's Oliver Township. She says the sheer size alone of a turbine is an economic opportunity for Michigan. ...But one crucial ingredient is missing - a law requiring that a certain amount of the state's electricity come from renewable sources such as wind. Twenty-five states have what's known as a renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, and a few others have voluntary goals. ...Senate Energy and Technology Chairman Bruce Patterson could be key in determining the fate of renewable requirements. He says he won't stand in the way of the 10 percent requirement passed by House because there are safeguards to eliminate the mandate if green power costs too ...He also expresses concern about a Standard & Poor's report on power produced by wind. It's still an "infinitesimal" fraction of all electricity, according to the report, which last month raised concerns about the feasibility and cost ramifications of forcing U.S. utilities to comply with renewable mandates. Costs eventually show up on the monthly bills of residents and businesses.