Next battle over wind energy in Michigan awaits offshore

Could wind turbines dot the offshore waters of Lake Michigan, much like this British wind farm in the Thames estuary? (Creative Commons photo by phault via Flickr)

As Michigan seeks to close its wind power gap with neighboring states, it is also approaching a formidable political hurdle.

Is the state ready to accept offshore wind turbines in waters prized by boaters and wealthy lakeshore property owners alike?

“It better be,” said Bill Rustem, a member of the Great Lakes Wind Council, which is recommending a change in state law to authorize placement of wind turbines at least six miles off shore.

Rustem, president and CEO of Public Sector Consultants in Lansing, said the state can ill afford to ignore the economic potential of wind power, let alone its obvious benefit as a clean alternative to power sources like coal and nuclear.

“If Michigan doesn’t accept the reality that the auto industry isn’t coming back to Michigan, then we are all doomed.”

Michigan ranks last among Great Lakes states in wind power, according to the American Wind Power Association. Illinois has 96 turbines with at least 600 more proposed or under construction. Minnesota has more than 700.

Michigan has less than 100.

Power standards in Michigan require that 10 percent of the state’s power come from wind, solar or other green sources by 2015. A recent legislative package unveiled by House Democrats, business leaders and clean energy advocates would push that to 30 percent by 2025.

Proponents say the package will help make Michigan a center in the green energy industry. The plan does not include any new tax credits — such as the $555 million in incentives adopted this year for manufacturers of advanced battery systems for electric vehicles.

State Republicans have other priorities.

The bills are unlikely to get attention in the Senate until the state’s budget crisis is resolved, said Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop of Rochester.

“We can’t address any other issue,” Marsden said, until the projected $1.7 billion budget deficit is closed.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Holland, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who represents much of the Lower Peninsula’s Lake Michigan shoreline in Congress, said he would be wary of pushing up renewable energy standards beyond the current 10-percent limit because of the cost to business.

Hoekstra said he would consider offshore wind turbines if the technology is proven and it would not be cost-prohibitive to implement.

“It’s an option I would consider,” he said. “That’s the place where you are going to have the most wind.”

Hoekstra pushed for a $1.4 million demonstration wind turbine in Muskegon Lake, a project of Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center.

But even Michigan’s modest inland wind farm efforts have often met with considerable local opposition and delay.

Plans for a 30-turbine farm in Oceana County remained on the drawing board for years because political delays and local residents who fought the project. Voters finally approved it in November.

The battle over to build turbines off-shore, where it is easier to harness wind energy, is likely to be even more charged.

In Massachusetts, a $1-billion proposal to build the first large-scale offshore wind farm off Cape Cod has faced opposition from influential opponents that include U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy. It has been in the works for seven years.

A spokeswoman for Kennedy said his objections to the project are “based on safety, environmental, fishing, economic and public interest issues.”

Rustem said that same not-in-my-backyard syndrome is holding Michigan back.

“We always mean the other guy’s place,” he said.

The Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council is recommending amending Public Act 325 to allow offshore waters to be included in the public trust. That would give the state authority to override local opposition.