Wind farms will have a niche role in generating electricity for Michigan. But their role should not be mandated by legislation. The economics of wind power will determine if it is viable and cost effective. Mandating or subsidizing a marginal player in the power industry will, in the long run, be costly. Wind power's chief drawback is obvious: The wind doesn't blow constantly. ...Renewable energy has grown in recent years. And will continue to have a place producing electrical power. But the growth should be at a pace dictated by the economics of production, not by government fiat.

Besides the environmental advantages of an RPS, many states are finding an economic incentive. Texas has huge potential for wind energy and business interests there are pushing for it, but other states find the turbines unsightly. ...expensive and disputes the job-creation assertion. "Proponents of wind energy claim that mandating renewable energy will lead to job creation," Doug Roberts, Jr., the chamber's director of environmental and energy policy, told members of the House Committee on Energy and Technology. "However, proponents usually can't back up these claims with facts. "For a quick comparison, for under half the cost of a 10 percent renewable mandate, Michigan could build a new nuclear plant (cost $2 billion to $3 billion)," Roberts added. "A new nuclear plant would provide 1,200 megawatts of reliable energy and would create 1,800 temporary construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs.

Jennifer Granholm ought to know better. ...she should understand the folly of forcing technologically impossible demands on an industry. But there she was last week, pitching a proposal that Michigan utilities get 25 percent of their power from renewable resources by 2025. ...Even if it were technologically and economically feasible to replace 25 percent of Michigan's energy with wind power, it's not politically possible. Replacing just one 1,000-megawatt coal plant would require 1,500 windmills. Meeting 25 percent of the state's estimated 2025 electricity demand would take 6,800 windmills, built at a cost of $30 billion. And each one would need 100 acres, so that's 680,000 acres of prime lakeshore land covered with giant turbines. It's not going to happen.

Wind turbines for the most part are symbolic gestures that would have us believe we are doing something good for our environment when in reality we are doing very little.

We applaud any effort to offer incentives to increase the use of renewable and alternative energy sources to power Michigan. But we hope the 25-percent goal can be reached by offering incentives, not by issuing mandates. The cheapest source of energy in the United States is coal. For the time being, at least, renewable sources of energy are a more expensive alternative. It would not bode well for economic development in Michigan if the state had astronomical energy costs.

From Barton, Vermont, to the German border with Denmark and from the shores of Lake Huron, to the Romney Marches of southern England, wind power advocates are fighting crosswinds from local residents. In Barton in mid-January, a referendum overwhelmingly rejected the wind power turbines that were planned near this upper Vermont community. ...In Germany, where one-third of the world's current wind power is generated, doubters have provoked a loud debate. The company that owns the grid that includes nearly half the wind-farms in Germany reported its wind farms generated only 11 percent of their capacity. The company said the winds vary so much the wind farm had to be backed 80 percent by the conventional power grid.

The debate state residents and lawmakers should be having about how best to harness our untapped wealth of wind power has been reduced to an emotion-packed battle between local control and state mandates.

Have we spent all this time on research and attending meetings in order to have our valid concerns not taken seriously enough because select members on the commission have potential financial gain based on an ordinance written in favor of turbines being erected in our Township?

But there will be much debate over how much emphasis should be placed on renewable energy. For example, if, as PIRGIM insists, wind-turbine production has the potential to provide "over 10,000 new jobs" in Michigan, there are ancillary questions: Are wind turbines to become as commonplace -- or more so -- than cellular towers? What are the implications of that?

On the flip side, the jury is still out on a number of issues regarding wind power. Local officials have decried the lack of environmental studies done in advance of the test site to determine the impact on local migratory bird populations and other wildlife.

No electrical power plant manager/scheduler who wants to keep their job will ever lower the output of a reliable and dispatchable fossil or nuclear fuel plant by placing their faith in the wind. So the net effect, after we've exposed our tourism industry, our property values and children's well being to these WTGs, is that they will yield little if any usable electricity.