PORT CLINTON -- City Council is looking into joining other Ottawa County governments to bring energy-producing windmills to the area, thus decreasing local dependency on FirstEnergy to provide electricity.
PORT CLINTON -- City Council is looking into joining other Ottawa County governments to bring energy-producing windmills to the area, thus decreasing local dependency on FirstEnergy to provide electricity.
Paul Hoag, president of North Coast Wind & Power LLC, told council during its Tuesday night work session that the city has the potential to save significantly by purchasing the windmills, or wind turbines, with Elmore, Oak Harbor and Ottawa County.
"The county could be integrated to get this done," Hoag said before adding FirstEnergy's rates likely will increase dramatically in 2008. "It makes it very feasible for a city to do this."
But first, the city needs to pay more than $10,000, Hoag said, to conduct studies that would …
Paul Hoag, president of North Coast Wind & Power LLC, told council during its Tuesday night work session that the city has the potential to save significantly by purchasing the windmills, or wind turbines, with Elmore, Oak Harbor and Ottawa County.
"The county could be integrated to get this done," Hoag said before adding FirstEnergy's rates likely will increase dramatically in 2008. "It makes it very feasible for a city to do this."
But first, the city needs to pay more than $10,000, Hoag said, to conduct studies that would determine whether the wind turbines, which cost $2.5 million per unit, might disrupt avian wildlife, among other things.
Another study has to be conducted for at least a year to prove that Ottawa County provides enough wind to secure financing for the project from an outside source.
Each unit is 2.3 megawatts.
Councilman Glenn Chapman, chairman of council's utility committee, said the idea sounds good so far.
"I'm all for green energy," he said. "It's a question of whether we can generate enough wind power to benefit."
Bowling Green recently had four wind turbines constructed, Hoag said. The devices have been cost effective, generating about 1.5 percent of that city's energy.
Hoag said Port Clinton probably would be served better than Bowling Green if the wind turbines were constructed here, given the high wind generation from Lake Erie.
Although the wind turbines provided enough energy to supply 919 homes with electricity in Bowling Green, Hoag said Port Clinton's use of the wind turbines must be limited to industrial use. FirstEnergy has a lock on supplying residences in Port Clinton.
Even so, wind turbines could entice businesses to move here by guaranteeing one rate to deliver electricity for 20 years, Hoag said.
Hoag suggested Ottawa County is ripe for building 20 to 30 wind turbines. And through and inter-county effort, the construction wouldn't have to stay within the boundary of any one corporation limit for all participants to profit.