An Erie, Pa.-based energy company wants to determine whether its feasible to develop a wind farm on property at the Lake County Landfill in Painesville Township. Lake County commissioners have approved an agreement with Lake County Winds, LLC, a subsidiary of BQ Energy, that allows the company to conduct a study to see if the land would be conducive for wind energy.

''Ohio definitely has a lot of potential,'' said aycox, ''especially along the lake.'' According to Jaycox, Cuyahoga County is evaluating the possibility of installing turbines in the lake, as California has in the ocean. ''The only issue with the Great Lakes is that they do freeze,'' said Richard Stuebi of the Cleveland Foundation. Stuebi, however, didn't think the obstacle was insurmountable, as he stated, ''We're pretty confident that designs and technology can accommodate the icing.'' The lake, despite the ice, does have some advantages over oceanic sites. When compared to the ocean, Lake Erie has no waves or salinity. Stuebi also pointed out that the lake is considerably shallow compared to an ocean. Local officials are also excited about the considerable potential of the winds coming inland off the lake.

An Ohio county seeking to develop the up to 27MW Icebreaker offshore wind farm planned for the waters of Lake Erie has scrapped a recently-announced tender for geotechnical surveying, citing legal and weather reasons.

The coalition that aims to put wind turbines in Lake Erie suffered a setback today. The Ohio Third Frontier Commission voted not to provide up to $5 million to Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., or LEEDCo, a nonprofit that is helping guide the effort. LEEDCo planned to use the money as matching funds for a much larger pot of federal money that will be awarded to organizations working to build offshore wind farms.

Sekulic has a vision to put wind turbines in the lake. He already received the support from Lorain City Council and the Lorain Port Authority. But the ODNR is still developing a draft set of rules for the submerged land leases that would be necessary for wind energy operations in the lake, Watkins said.

Wind turbines on Lake Erie could blow the rust off the region and mark it as a world leader in alternative-energy development, officials say. A Cuyahoga County task force on Thursday proposed the Lake Erie Wind Energy Center, featuring up to 10 wind turbines on the lake and a research center on land spurring new businesses and jobs. “We can change the entire image, from a rust-belt city to a city of the future,” Ronn Richard, head of the Cleveland Foundation, told a crowd of 60 at the Great Lakes Science Center. “This kind of push would help Cleveland reclaim its place as a major economic and cultural force on the world stage.”

Wagner and LEEDCo are busy educating the community and addressing concerns of environmentalists, boaters and tourist businesses. He expects more concerted opposition as more details about the project unfold.

But in an interview with The Blade, Larry Flowers of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory said he does not envision any offshore turbines being built west of Cleveland because of the lake's fragile ecology on its western end.

Local leaders propose a windy addition to the Lake Erie horizon - massive wind turbines that would crank out megawatts and spin off research, development and jobs. An energy task force will recommend to Cuyahoga County commissioners next month that the region pursue a demonstration project of four to 10 turbines, spinning at least three miles out on Lake Erie. It would be an unprecedented venture - while European countries have water-borne windmills, the United States has none, task force officials said. And there are no freshwater wind turbines in the world, they said.

More than 20 landowners had filed as intervenors in the process, which produced a route that ultimately was more palatable to them than both the original proposal and an alternate route. ...

Wind turbines will generate more than electricity in Morrow County if efforts to win the business of alternative energy companies succeed as local officials hope they will. Responding to interest expressed by companies in erecting wind turbines in northern Morrow County, the county board of commissioners recently added zoning regulations for the machines, which typically sit atop 200-to-300-foot-plus towers, said Pat Davies, the county's director of operations. ...Of primary concern for the commissioners was making sure setback regulations from public roads and occupied dwellings protected the county's residents and infrastructure, he said.

The company has filed a condemnation complaint on the Salois land to gain access it says is needed for the greater good, but Larry Salois is digging in his heels. He disputes the claim that the project is in the public interest, and he isn't sure whether Tonbridge, which is a for-profit private company based in a foreign country, even has the right to condemn the land. "I'm going to do my best to keep 'em outside of the fence for as long as I can," Salois said.

A proposal for 20 turbines on Lowell Mountain has stirred controversy in the Northeast Kingdom. But there's another piece of the project that hasn't received as much attention. Utilities want to build a new, 15-mile power line to get the wind power out to the grid.

About 40 minutes after the start of a public meeting Tuesday on proposed routes for wind energy power lines, about 50 people still stood outside the Region 16 Service Center, waiting to get in line with more than 100 people inside. Sharyland Utilities, which will build the 250- to 300-mile transmission line, and several consulting companies had representatives there to talk to landowners and others.

Several landowners south of Junction have said they've been forgotten and abused in the transmission line routing that the Public Utility Commission approved on Jan. 20. The path of the transmission lines, being built by the Lower Colorado River Authority to carry wind-generated electricity from West Texas to the I-35 corridor, puts them through part of the townsite and through the land of Dean Martin, among others.

Moves to reclassify Central Otago landscapes thought worth protecting has drawn a reaction from wind farm developers, power companies and Federated Farmers. ...More than 200 submitters have recorded their opinions on the change to the classification of landscapes, and most have sought the references to be deleted or more information given about how they will affect development or normal rural activities.

Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said he hopes to introduce a bill overhauling the 2008 law as soon as the end of the month. "It behooves any wise person to check in. No one I know of stays with an 18-year plan and doesn't make suitable changes to the plan when market conditions change."

"I believe these wind towers are an irresponsible choice fiscally," Rep. Vicki Strong said. "We have to be alert and aware of how we spend our money, and this wind project is not an efficient way to do it." Speakers stood at a small podium with the Lowell Mountain ridge as a backdrop.

County planners aren't supporting Portage Township's attempt to relax wind turbine rules for residents. Portage Township Trustees have proposed changing its current zoning regulations on electric-generating wind turbines in residential districts to make them more accessible, said Portage Township Trustee Jack Stables.